Effects of intravenous steroids on seminal vesicle contractions of castrated rats

¹ Departments of Anatomy and Pediatrics, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina

Young adult castrated male rats were used in a study of the effects of four intravenous steroids on seminal vesicle contractions. One lobe of each animal's seminal vesicle was exteriorized and recordings of the rhythmic contractions were made with a muscle lever attached to a kymograph. Following two periods of control recordings, each of the animals was injected intravenously with either 300 µg water soluble testosterone, 200 µg water-soluble estrogen (Premarin), 300 µg hydrocortisone hemisuccinate or 300 µg methyl prednisolone sodium succinate. The administration of androgen was followed by an inhibition of the frequency of contraction in 8 of the 11 animals. Four of the sixteen animals injected with intravenous estrogen showed a decrease in frequency of contractions. There was no seminal vesicle slowing following administration of either corticoid. An intravenous technique here described, allowed the administration of steroid at any time during the experiment without interrupting the preparation.