Aromatase inhibitors block natural
sex change and induce male function in the protandrous black porgy,
Acanthopagrus schlegeli Bleeker: possible mechanism of natural
sex change.
Lee YH, Yueh WS, Du JL, Sun LT, Chang CF.
National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium, Taiwan, Republic
of China.
The objectives of the present study were to investigate the effects
of oral administration of aromatase inhibitors on sex change,
milt volume, 11-ketotestosterone (11-KT), and LH in plasma; aromatase
activity in gonad, pituitary, and brain in the protandrous fish,
black porgy (Acanthopagus schlegeli Bleeker). Two-year-old functional
male black porgy were divided into two groups; one was fed a control
diet and the other was fed a diet mixed with aromatase inhibitors
(AIs; fadrozole and 1,4,6-androstatriene-3,17-dione, each 10 mg/kg
feed) for 8.5 mo.
A significantly higher gonadosomatic index was
observed in the AI group. Fish treated with AIs showed complete
suppression of natural sex change. Significantly higher levels
of plasma 11-KT, LH, and milt volume were shown in the AI group
than the controls. Lower aromatase activity in the gonad, pituitary,
forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain in concordance with the suppression
of sex change was observed in the AI group. The data show that
aromatase is directly involved in the mechanism of natural sex
change of protandrous black porgy. AIs also enhanced male function
in concordance with the elevated plasma levels of 11-KT and spermiation
in milt volume.
Sex Change Publications
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