Scientists at the Medical Research Council Centre for
Reproductive Health at the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom, published a
study that suggests testosterone levels in men are predetermined by androgen
exposure in the womb. They discovered that low levels of testosterone in the
womb can affect the development of adult Leydig cells (ALCs), the cells that
produce testosterone in men. The study appeared in the April 21, 2014, print
and online editions of the
Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences (
Fetal programming of adult Leydig cell
function by androgenic effects on stem/progenitor cells).
The researchers treated pregnant rats with a chemical to
suppress fetal levels of testosterone and then measured the number of adult
Leydig cells in mature male progeny. Adult rats that developed in wombs with
reduced levels of testosterone had an approximately 40 percent reduction in the
number of adult Leydig cells compared to rats that developed in wombs with
normal levels of testosterone. The researchers believe that testosterone levels
somehow affect the genesis of adult Leydig cells from stem cells.
“Our study shows, for the first time, to our knowledge, that testosterone
levels during fetal masculinization can (re)program adult testosterone levels
through effects on stem cells, which develop into adult Leydig cells after
puberty,” the researchers said. This finding, according to the authors, could
potentially explain why testosterone levels in men of all ages are declining as
well as why men with low sperm count commonly exhibit adult Leydig cell
failure.
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