OBSERVATION OF THE VASCULAR ARCHITECTURE OF THE RAT TESTIS / 解剖学报

ABSTRACT

The gross vessels and microvasculature of the rat testis were observed by clear method and corrosion cast method under SEM. The present study noted that there were two kinds of the microvascular arrangement around the circumference of the seminiferous tubule. The first one could be called the intertubular vessels. This vessel was either individual precapillary arteriole or two parallel capillaries connected by a few small branches to form network. The intertubular vessels were located in triangular columns of interstitial tissue between the seminiferous tubules and parallel with the tubules. The second one could be called the peritubular capillaries. These capillaries connected the intertubular vessels in the manner of a rope ladder, and encircled the seminiferous tubule, formed the peritubular capillary network in the subepithelium of the seminiferous tubule. Authors presume that this vascular feature of the architecture surrounding the seminiferous tubules may be related to high blood flow required in the metabolic activity of the tubules and it may contribute to immediate effect of androgen secreting in the interstitial tissue of the testis on the seminiferous tubules. In the article, the gross vascular feature of the arrangement in the rat testis and the microvascular arrangement in the visceral layer of tunica vaginalis of it is described in detail. Their functional significance is also discussed.