Effects of the chronic use of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) on testicular weight and spermatogenesis: experimental study in rats.

AIM: The complete biological effects of chronic use of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), reported as a weak androgen, are not completely understood. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the effects of chronic administration of DHEA on the spermatogenesis in rats. METHODS: Male Wistar rats, 4 months old, were selected for the study. The animals were divided into two groups. Group 1 (n = 9) received placebo (saline solution) 0.5 ml/day and Group 2 (n = 15) received DHEA 5 mg/kg/day. Both the groups received the respective treatments 5 days a week during 10 months. At the end of the exposure, the rats were sacrificed and the testes removed, weighed and processed for histologic analysis. Spermatogenesis was evaluated as the mean number of seminiferous tubules with and without spermatids in maturation phase in their lumen, in five random fields on the same slide. RESULTS: The median levels of serum total testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate was measured in the two groups. Significant higher concentrations in total testosterone (2.06 +/- 0.4 vs. 0.80 +/- 0.2; p < 0.05) and DHEAS (222.1 +/- 41.5 vs. 2.0 +/- 0.3) were observed in the group treated with DHEA as compared to the control group. The mean weights of the right testes were 1.59 +/- 0.3 in group 1 and 1.58 +/- 0.2 g in group 2 (p > 0.05). These values for the left testes were 1.57 +/- 0.3 and 1.55 +/- 0.3 g, respectively (p > 0.05). The histologic analysis showed a mean of 13.5 +/- 1.5 and 12.8 +/- 1.8 seminiferous tubules per field in the groups 1 and 2, respectively (p > 0.05). The same analysis demonstrated that in the control group 0.06 +/- 0.1 of the tubules presented without spermatids in maturation phase and in the DHEA group this was observed in 0.22 +/- 1.2 of the tubules (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Chronic administration of DHEA in the present dose did not show any detectable effect on the quantitative and qualitative analyses of spermatogenesis in rats.

Effects of chronic administration of dehydroepiandrosterone on serum testosterone levels and prostatic tissue in rats.

PURPOSE: We evaluated the effects of chronic administration of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) on serum total testosterone and DHEA sulfate (DHEAS), prostatic weight and histological features in the rat. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Wistar rats were divided into 2 groups. The first group of 9 rats received saline solution orally once daily during 5 days of the week for 10 months and the second group of 15 received 5 mg/kg daily DHEA in suspension orally in the same pattern. RESULTS: At the end of the 10-month study period total testosterone levels were higher in the DHEA group compared with controls (2.0 +/- 0.4 vs 0.8 +/- 0.2 mg/dl, p <0.0001) and DHEAS levels were also greater in the treated group compared with placebo (222.1 +/- 41.5 vs 2.0 +/- 0.3 mg/dl, p <0.0001). Weight of the prostate, testis and body did not differ between the groups (p >0.05). No differences between the 2 groups were noted in regard to the degree of hyperplasia, atrophy, a papillary component or the stromal-to-gland ratio (p >0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Oral ingestion of DHEA on a chronic basis in the rat increases serum DHEAS and total testosterone without any evident change in prostate weight or histology.

Ginecomastia como forma de apresentaçäo de tumor de células de Leydig: relato de caso / Leydig cell tumor presenting with gynecomastia: a case report

A avaliaçäo de um paciente masculino, apresentando-se com ginecomastia, é uma situaçäo que requer uma criteriosa avaliaçäo diagnóstica. Os autores apresentam um caso de tumor de células de Leydig cuja principal manifestaçäo clínica foi ginecomastia. Paciente masculino de 34 anos com aumento progressivo do volume mamário, sem qualquer outra sintomatologia associada. Foi submetido à avaliaçäo hormonal, verificando-se prolactina, estradiol e androstenediona aumentados, avaliaçäo ecográfica, diagnosticou lesäo em testículo direito. Submetido à exploraçäo cirúrgica do testículo, diagnosticou-se tumor de células de Leydig. Os autores enfatizam a importância da avaliaçäo diagnóstica em pacientes com ginecomastia