Premium
Study of the polyol pathway in the porcine epididymis
Author(s) -
Pruneda Anna,
Pinart Elisabet,
Bonet Sergi,
Yeung ChingHei,
Cooper Trevor G.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
molecular reproduction and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.745
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1098-2795
pISSN - 1040-452X
DOI - 10.1002/mrd.20481
Subject(s) - aldose reductase , sorbitol , sorbitol dehydrogenase , polyol pathway , biology , epididymis , fructose , efferent ducts , medicine , endocrinology , lumen (anatomy) , biochemistry , enzyme , microbiology and biotechnology , sperm , botany
Concentrations of D ‐glucose, D ‐fructose and D ‐sorbitol were quantified in porcine epididymal fluid by spectrofluorimetric assays and aldose reductase (AR) and sorbitol dehydrogenase (SDH) were located immunohistochemically in the epididymal epithelium. Glucose and fructose concentrations were low (<1 mM) and decreased in the cauda whereas sorbitol concentration (4–7 mM) was rather uniform along the duct. AR was luminally located on microvilli in the caput and corpus with less presence distally and was present in the lumen. SDH was present apically and basally in epithelial cells throughout the epididymis and in the lumen. The observations are consistent with diffusion of circulating glucose into the lumen, its conversion via AR to sorbitol which accumulates in the lumen and the action of SDH on sorbitol to produce fructose. Sperm metabolism of glucose and fructose may explain their lower concentrations in the cauda and sorbitol could be a metabolic substrate or osmolyte required for volume regulation. Mol. Reprod. Dev. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.