Abstract
In order to study the possible homeostatic regulation of gonadal steroids in fishes, plasma steroid levels were measured in hemi-castrated and sham-operated nesting male three-spined sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus, and in mature 2-year old male Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar. Hemi-castration significantly suppressed androgen levels in both species. In sticklebacks, plasma levels of 11-ketotestosterone (11KT) were 56% and levels of testosterone (T) 55% of those found in sham-operated males. In hemi-castrated salmon the levels of 11KT were 63%, and the levels of T were 75% of the levels in sham-operated males. In contrast, levels of 17α,20β-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one (17,20-P) in salmon (not measured in sticklebacks) were not different between hemi-castrated and sham-operated males. The results suggest that, although levels of the steroid 17,20-P were compensated in hemi-castrated salmon, the androgen levels in fish males in full spawning condition are not closely regulated by negative feedbacks.
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Hellqvist, A., Mayer, I. & Borg, B. Effects of hemi-castration on plasma steroid levels in two teleost fishes; the three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus, and the Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar . Fish Physiology and Biochemistry 26, 107–110 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025435625551
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025435625551
- unilateral
- castration
- homeostasis
- 17α,20β-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one
- testosterone
- 11-ketotestosterone