Open Biopsy Of The Rat Testis Leads To Morphological Changes Of Seminiferous Tubules

Research background and objective:A previous research the author participated in showed that open biopsy of the adult rat testis leaded to a morphological change of spermatogenic cell masses protruding into the seminiferous tubule.In this study,we aimed to further investigate the morphological change of seminiferous tubules induced by testicular biopsy in rats,and explore the mechanism of the change by observing the change with serial sections.Materials and Methods: After anesthesia in 14 adult rats,one of the bilateral testes was incised and a piece of tissue was squeezed out.After immersion fixation of the entire testis the tissue blocks(non-free blocks)were cut off the testis.After anesthesia in another 8 mature rats,testicular tissue blocks(free blocks)were obtained and cut off one testis and then fixed.The other testis of these 22 rats was first immersion fixed and then a tissue block(in situ block)was cut from the testis.All the tissue blocks were embedded in methacrylate resin and a section(thickness 25μm)was cut from each embedded block.In addition,an average of 46 serial sections were also obtained from each free block.All sections were stained with periodic acid-Schiff reagent and hematoxylin and analyzed with histological observation.Results: The seminiferous tubules were essentially normal in the non-free tissue blocks,in comparison with the in situ tissue blocks.On the sections from free tissue blocks,however,separate spermatogenic cell masses,consisting of spermatocytes and spermatids in almost all cases,were seen in the lumen of approximately half of the tubule profiles.The observation of serial sections suggested that these sperm cell masses,from the seminiferous tubular wall at some place,were squeezed or protruded into the nearby seminiferous tubular lumen during the process of open biopsy.Conclusion: Open biopsy of mature testis can lead to spermatogenic cell masses sloughing off the seminiferous epithelium and protruding into the lumen,which may be caused by local contraction of the seminiferous tubules in the free tissue block during biopsy.