1. An evaluation of the respective roles of liver disease and malnutrition in the pathogenesis of the hypogonadism seen in alcoholic rats
- Author
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D.H. Van Thiel, J.S. Gavaler, G.B. Herman, R. Lester, W.I. Smith, and V.L. Gay
- Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty ,Cirrhosis ,Hepatology ,Gastroenterology ,Histology ,Biology ,medicine.disease ,Pathogenesis ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Liver disease ,Malnutrition ,Endocrinology ,chemistry ,Internal medicine ,medicine ,Carbon tetrachloride ,Liver function ,Testosterone - Abstract
Considerable evidence has accumulated to suggest that ethanol is a gonadal toxin. With this emphasis the role(s) that liver disease and malnutrition might play have been neglected. The following studies were performed to either confirm the primacy of alcohol as a gonadal toxin or to point out the respective roles of these latter two conditions. Five groups of animals were studied: an ad libitum-fed control, carbon tetrachloride-treated (cirrhosis control), weight-restricted (malnutrition control), a pair-fed control, and an ethanol-fed group. The liver function and histology of all but the ethanol-fed and carbon tetrachloride cirrhosis controls were normal. In contrast, only the testicular weight and histology of the alcohol-fed animals were abnormal. Testosterone levels were reduced only in the ethanol-fed group ( P P P P
- Published
- 1980
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