Effect of chronic prostatitis on the endocrine activity of the testes]

It was shown in experiments on rabbits that androgenopoiesis was disturbed in the testes under conditions of aseptic chronic inflammation of the prostate: against the background of a sharp reduction of testosterone and androstendion formation there was observed production and discharge into the blood of great amounts of progesterone, this being not characteristic of the incretory activity of the intact gonads. It is suggested that the search for the ways of steroidogenesis restoration in the testes under conditions of induced pathology should be directed to the activation of enzymes catalyzing the processes of progesterone transformation into 17-alpha-hydroxyprogesteron, androstendion, and testosterone.