Comparative effects of dexamethasone and testosterone on erythropoiesis in a strain of mice partially unresponsive to hypoxia

Abstract

Androgens stimulate red cell production by enhancing the endogenous erythropoietin titer, while adrenal cortical steroids have been reported to exert stimulatory or suppressive effects on erythropoiesis. The action of testosterone and dexamethasone was compared in short and longterm experiences that combined administration of the hormones with hypoxia in a strain of mice that show little erythropoicin production when subjected to hypobaric hypoxia.

Both hormones, if used alone, show little erythropoietic activation. Testosterone combined with hypoxia increases radioiron uptake into red cells, resulting in a significative increment of the red cell mass. The combination of dexamethasone with hypoxia reveal a similar erythropoietic response, suggesting that, at least with this experimental model, androgens and this synthetic steroid have a similar pharmacologic action.