Nuclear uptake and retention of androgen by the pituitary gland of the hamster and the rat

Abstract

Castrated adult male hamsters and castrated adult female rats were injected with either 0.2 microgram (hamsters) or 0.5 microgram (rats) of 3H-dihydrotestosterone (107 Ci/mmole)/100 grams body weight and killed 1 1/2 h later. The pituitary glands were removed and processed for both autoradiography and immunocytochemistry (hamster) or only autoradiography (rats). Localization of the androgen was found in 10-15% of the cells of the pars distalis in both species. Only cells that stained for luteinizing hormone (LH) in the hamster's pars distalis concentrated the androgen. Also cells in both the pars intermedia and pars nervosa (1-5%) concentrated the androgen in both species. Although the number of cells that concentrated the androgen in the pars intermedia and pars nervosa was small, this finding may be related to recent physiologic data that suggest that the gonadal steroids may play a role in regulating water retention and natriuresis.