Sex difference of adenine effects in rats: renal function, bone mineral density and sex steroidogenesis.

Adenine is widely used in clinical field, however, an excess of adenine is harmful. It is known that the feeding of an adenine-rich diet induces renal failure and decreases bone mineral density (BMD) and the serum testosterone level in male rats. However, there is little information about the influence of adenine on female animals. We compared the effects of adenine treatment between male and female rats. Young male and female rats were administered adenine adjusted with distilled water (6 mg/ml, 50 mg/ml and 100 mg/ml) for 8 weeks (3 times/week, 8-16 week old). In male rats, renal failure was induced by 100 mg/ml adenine treatment and renal dysfunction was induced by 50 mg/ml adenine treatment. Bone loss and the reduction of the testosterone level were also caused by both concentrations of adenine. However, the serum testosterone level and BMD in male rats were decreased by 6 mg/ml adenine treatment by which renal dysfunction was not caused. It is suggested that adenine directly affected bone metabolism and sex steroidgenesis in male animals, not through altering renal dysfunction. In female rats, conversely, renal dysfunction was induced only in the 100 mg/ml group, which was somewhat different from the observation in male rats. The serum 17-beta estradiol level and the BMD in female rats were not affected by adenine treatment at all. In conclusion, there is a significant difference of the effects of adenine, which is commonly contained in medicine and general foods, on steroidgenesis and renal function between male and female rats.