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First published online December 22, 2003
Journal of Experimental Biology 207, 437-441 (2004)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2004
doi: 10.1242/jeb.00786

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Inhibition of the increased 17ß-estradiol-induced mast cell number by melatonin in the testis of the frog Rana esculenta, in vivo and in vitro

Gaia Izzo, Michela d'Istria, Ismene Serino and Sergio Minucci^*

Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale-Sezione di Fisiologia Umana e Funzioni Biologiche Integrate "F. Bottazzi", Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia, Seconda Università degli Studi di Napoli, via Costantinopoli 16, 80138 Napoli, Italy

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: sergio.minucci{at}unina2.it)

Accepted 7 November 2003

In the present study, we have utilized 17ß-estradiol to induce the increase of mast cell number in order to verify the melatonin effect on mast cell accumulation in the frog testicular interstitium. Data obtained from in vivo experiments confirm that 17ß-estradiol increases the mast cell number and indicate a melatonin-inhibitory role in their accumulation in the frog testis. In addition, melatonin interferes with the effects of estradiol on the increase of mast cell number in short-term cultured testes, and this result has also been obtained in a dose-response experiment at physiological concentration. The data suggest that melatonin acts on mast cell number directly via its local action in the frog gonads. In conclusion, our study shows, for the first time, that melatonin may interfere, probably via estrogen receptors, with the differentiation and/or proliferation of mast cells induced by estradiol treatment either in vivo or in vitro in the testis of the frog Rana esculenta.

Key words: melatonin, 17ß-estradiol, mast cell, testis, frog, Rana esculenta

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