STUDIES ON THE TCA CYCLE METABOLISM OF THE MALE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS AND THEIR ACCESSORY GLANDS

Abstract

In urological fields, it can be recognized that the studies on the male sexual organs and their accessory glands have not been so well done as those on the urinary organs, and it is no exaggeration to say that there are almost no fruitful studies on the intermediary metabolism.
In this treatise, therefore the author wants to make clear the relation of sex hormone with TCA cycle metabolism by an experimental and clinical study on the intermediary metabolism esp, TCA cycle, of the male reproductive organs and their accessory glands.
As for materials, prostates, prostatic secretion and testis from dogs and rabbits, seminal vesicles from rabbits, ademonatous and cancerous prostate, semen and testis from men, are exployed.
The results obtained are summarized as follows;
1) In all of the materials investigated, TCA cycle is considered to be operative.
2) In prostatic tissue, TCA cycle metabolism (respiration) is generally lower than glycolysis, and citric acid level is higher in rabbit and human prostate adenoma than in dog's prostate, and the accumulation of lactic acid and citric acid is evident in prostate adenoma. ATP is necessary for the dissimilation of the accumulated citric acid.
3) Citric acid level is lower in cancerous prostate than in prostate adenoma.
4) On the whole, prostatic secretion proves lower respiration than glycolysis. Dog's prostatic fluid contains very low level of citric acid, as compaired with that of rabbit. That may suggest that the citric acid in the prostatic secretion originates from the seminal vesicle.
5) Human semen is rich in citric acid, but the level of citric acid is low in the semen of oligospermia or azospermia.
6) In testis, the oxidative phase of carbohydrate metabolism is impaired, and the tendency of lactic acid accumulation is observed.
7) Androgen decreases the anaerobic phase of carbolhydrate metabolism of the dog's prostate and increases the oxidative phase of that metabolism.
8) Lactic acid metabolism is disturbed, and TCA cycle metabolism is decreased and also ATP system is impaired after castration or after injection of stilbesterol. But estrogen, when injected into castrated dog, activated the enzymes belonging to the TCA cycle. Lactic acid accumulation takes place when estrogen is injected into the castrated dog, and ATP is necessary to dissimilate the lactate.
9) Androgen also decreses the glycolysis of dog's testis and promotes the transformation of pyruvic acid into TCA cycle.
10) In dog's testis, when injected estrogen, the anaerobic glycolysis is decresed and the metabolism of α-Ketoglutaric acid is impaired, and ATP is required for the dissimilation of accumulated α-ketoglutaric acid.
11) Fumaric acid tends to accumulate in dog as well as human testis.