Effect of intra-testicular testosterone withdrawal on the expression of alpha-catenin in the adult rat testis / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the expression of alpha-catenin in the rat testis after intra-testicular testosterone withdrawal induced by injection of testosterone undecanoate (TU).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Ten adult male SD rats received vehicle (n = 5 ) or TU (19 mg/kg every 15 days, n = 5) for 130 days. Paraffin-embedded testicular sections were used for immunohistochemistry against a polyclonal anti-alpha-catenin antibody.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>In the control, alpha-catenin was expressed in the acrosome of spermatids and the cytoplasm of Leydig cells and peritubular myoid cells. In the TU-treated rat testis, Leydig cells were atrophied and the expression of alpha-catenin was markedly decreased or absent, but there was no evident change in the immunostaining of spermatids or myoid cells.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Intra-testicular testosterone withdrawal-induced looser arrangement or sloughing of spermatogenic cells is not related to the adhesion molecule alpha-catenin. Alpha-catenin may be used as a cell identification marker for Leydig cells.</p>

Histological changes of the testis and epididymis in adult rats as a result of Leydig cell destruction after ethane dimethane sulfonate treatment: a morphometric study / 亚洲男科学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>AIM</b>To quantitatively study the histological changes of the testis and epididymis as a result of a drastic reduction of testosterone secretion.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Fourteen adult Sprague-Dawley rats were injected intraperitoneally with ethane dimethane sulfonate (EDS, 75 mg/kg) and the same number of animals were injected with normal saline as a control. At days 7 and 12 (after treatment), respectively, half of the animals from each group were killed. The testes and epididymides were removed and tissue blocks embedded in methacrylate resin. The cell number per testis was estimated using the stereological optical disector and some other parameters were obtained using other morphometric methods.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The EDS treatment resulted in an almost complete elimination of Leydig cells but had no effect on the numbers of Sertoli cells per testis. At day 7 after EDS treatment, many elongated spermatids were retained in the seminiferous epithelium and many round spermatids could be seen in the epididymal ducts. At day 12, a looser arrangement of spermatids and spermatocytes became evident, with apparent narrow empty spaces being formed between germ cells in an approximately radial direction towards the tubule lumen; the numbers (per testis) of non-type B spermatogonia and spermatocytes were similar to controls, whereas that of type B spermatogonia increased by 59%, and that of early round, elongating and late elongated spermatids decreased by 37%, 72% and 52%, respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The primary spermatogenic lesions following EDS administration were (i) spermiation failure and (ii) detachment of spermatids and spermatocytes associated with impairment in spermiogenesis and meiosis.</p>