Glucocorticoid metabolism in testicular tissue: a key to fertility?

• 来源期刊: 亚洲男性学杂志（英文版）
• 年，卷（期）: 2014,（6）
• 页码范围: 919
• 页数: 1页
• 语种: 中文
• DOI: 10.4103/1008-682X.132467

摘要

Glucocorticoids are well-known as mediators of the systemic stress response.Increased glucocorticoid release and synthesis in response to endogenous or exogenous stressors have been shown to impair testicular hormone production in a variety of species and therefore may affect fertility.However,the physiological involvement of glucocorticoid hormones in tissue maturation and differentiation during both fetal and postnatal life is at least of similar importance as their role in the stress response.A well-regulated balance between beneficial and detrimental glucocorticoid hormone levels is therefore of utmost importance for tissue development as well as maintenance of tissue function.In the issue of the Asian Journal of Andrology,Zhou et al.1 have published a study investigating the involvement of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (1 1 βHSD) types 1 and 2 in the maturation of rat testis.These isohormones catalyze the interconversion of active glucocorticoids and inert glucocorticoid metabolites at the cellular level.In their article,Zhou et al.1 are able not only to describe the expression pattern of the two isoforms during testicular development in the male rat.