Influence of dietary fatty acids composition, level of dietary fat and feeding period on some parameters of androgen metabolism in male rats.

SUMMARY The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of the com po si tion of dietary fatty acids, the duration of feeding period and dietary fat level on androgen metabolism in male rats. One hundred and twelve Wistar rats were divided into 18 groups which were fed three diets containing dif fer ent types of fat (rapeseed [R], palm [P] and fi sh [F] oil) at either normal fat level (w/w; 5%) or high fat level (20%) during one, three or six weeks. Blood plasma level of androgen (testosterone + dihydrotestosterone) and testicular ac tiv i ty of 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (17β-HSD) were in ves ti gat ed. In addition, androgen content in cytosol of the heart, the target organ, was measured. Androgen concentration in both blood plasma and heart cytosol extracts was measured by ra di o im mu noassay. The activ i ty of 17β-HSD was expressed as a conversion of [ 3 H]androstendione to [ 3 H]testosterone in soluble fraction of go nad al homogenates. Plasma 1