Intrauterine and postnatal androgen action on the rodents prostate

Author(s)

Manoel Francisco Biancardi

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Campinas, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Biologia
• Defense date: 2010-03-18

Examining board members

Sebastião Roberto Taboga; Hélio Chiarini Garcia

• Advisor: Sebastião Roberto Taboga

Abstract

The prostate is a gland found not exclusively in male mammals, may also be present in female of some rodents and also in women. The androgens are essential for the development and maintenance of prostatic homeostasis throughout life. However, sensible interferences, especially during critical stages of development, can predispose this organ to develop lesions in adult and senile life. Researches have shown that the gene expression program controlled by androgen receptor during prostatic organogenesis is very similar to that activated during the installation of prostate cancer. Moreover, a large number of studies have demonstrated that the predisposition to prostate disorders has its origin in the early stages of life. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate whether intrauterine and postnatal androgen exposure alters the morphophysiology of rodents prostate leading to the development of prostatic disorders in adulthood. For this, the work was divided into two stages. At first, groups of untreated young and adult male Wistar rats and adult female rats treated with testosterone (1mg/Kg/48 hours) for 7, 14 and 21 were analyzed. The prostates of these animals were subjected to morphometric-stereological, immunohistochemical and ultrastructural analyses. In a second step, groups of male and female gerbils exposed to testosterone (100 ?g or 1 mg) during embryonic and postnatal (100 ?g) life were analyzed at adulthood. The prostatic glands of these animals were subjected to morphometric-stereological, immunohistochemical and also to three-dimensional reconstruction analyses. The results showed that prostates of female rats subjected to androgen therapy during adulthood had an intense development, presenting a more active synthesis and secretion status. In addition to this intense development, the prostate gland of these animals became morphologically and physiologically very similar to the ventral prostate of adult male rats. However, despite the prostates of treated rats suffered a significant development caused by the androgenic action, it was not observed the presence of lesions in these glands. In other hand, males and females gerbils submitted to abnormal androgen exposure during the embryonic period exhibited a high incidence of prostatic lesions in adulthood, being frequent the presence of inflammatory foci and intraepithelial neoplasia. The results showed that androgen excess interfere significantly in the prostate homeostasis, leading to an intense glandular development or even predisposes this gland to develop lesions during adulthood. These aspects are of great interest because a growing number of reports in the literature has shown that the hormonal imbalance during the early stages of prostate development may predispose this organ to manifest disease during adulthood and senescence. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 07/06862-3 - Male and female prostate development of Mongolian gerbil following intrauterine and post natal testosterone exposure
• Grantee: Manoel Francisco Biancardi
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master