The Blood — Testis Barrier and Steroids

  • B. P. Setchell
  • S. J. Main
Chapter
Part of the Current topics in Molecular Endocrinology book series (CTME, volume 2)

Abstract

Do steroids penetrate readily through the walls of the seminiferous tubules? An answer to this question is of vital importance to anyone interested in the possible production of steroids by the tubules or in the local action on the tubules of steroids produced in the interstitial tissue. It is now well established (see 1 for review) that many quite small molecules do not readily pass through the walls of the seminiferous tubules, while for other substances, such as glucose, there is a specific carrier system in the tubular wall. While this “blood-testis barrier” has been reasonably well characterized for some classes of compounds, the penetration of steroids has not been fully investigated. The earlier experiments involved injection of radioactively labelled steroids into the animal and then autoradiography of the testis or separation of the testis into tubules and interstitial tissue. The results of these studies were rather confusing, but this may to some extent be explained by differences in the techniques used (see 1 for review).

Keywords

Seminiferous Tubule Total Radioactivity Entry Rate Testis Fluid Thin Layer Chromatogram 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Plenum Press, New York 1975

Authors and Affiliations

  • B. P. Setchell
    • 1
  • S. J. Main
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of BiochemistryA.R.C. Institute of Animal PhysiologyBabraham, CambridgeEngland

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