Seminal vesicle response to androgen with adrenaline, noradrenaline and acetylcholine

¹ Department of Anatomy, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina

In a study of the end-organ response to androgen, use has been made of the seminal vesicle of the rat. Observations were made of the in vitro spontaneous contractions and responses to autonomic stimulating drugs. Vesicles of castrated rats contract spontaneously in vitro. Testosterone propionate given to the rat before sacrifice inhibits contractions, as does injection of water-soluble androgen into the in vitro chamber. Vesicles of castrates have lower thresholds to adrenaline and possibly to acetylcholine, but not to noradrenaline. The thresholds to acetylcholine but not to noradrenaline are elevated after injection of water-soluble androgen into the in vitro chamber. Several interpretations are discussed. Androgen and the autonomic nervous system probably interact at or near the cell membrane of the vesicle musculature. The three drugs tested most likely act at different loci along the nerve—motor end plate—muscle system, and noradrenaline is probably not a primary mediating agent of spontaneous contractions of the vesicle of the castrated rat.