Fig. 1. (A,B) Analysis of resistin gene expression in random testis specimens, as evaluated by RT-PCR and Southern blot (A), and optimization of RT-PCR conditions for semi-quantitative evaluation of relative expression levels of resistin mRNA in testis samples (B). For comparative purposes, expression of resistin gene in white adipose tissue (WAT) is presented. (C) The developmental profile of expression of the resistin gene in rat testis throughout postnatal maturation. A representative semi-quantitative RT-PCR assay of expression levels of resistin mRNA in testicular samples from 5-, 15-, 30-, 60- and 90-day-old rats. Parallel amplification of L19 ribosomal protein mRNA served as internal control. Semi-quantitative values are the mean±s.e.m. of at least four independent determinatio ns. a,b and c denote groups that are statistically different (P<0.01; ANOVA followed by Tukey's test).