Alterations in the Steroidogenic Capacity of Leydig Cells in Cryptorchid Testis

ABSTRACT Testicular blood flow and testosterone concentrations in the spermatic venous plasma were measured on unilaterally cryptorchid rats. Blood flow to the cryptorchid testis was 31.4 ± 11.7 (sd) ml/100 g x min which was significantly higher than that of the scrotal testis (17.7 ± 4.4 ml/100 gx. min) Stereological analysis showed a relative increase of blood vessel containing interstitial tissue in the cryptorchid testis, which was probably the main factor responsible for the relative increase of blood flow to the cryptorchid testis. The increase of interstitial tissue was greater than the increase of blood vessels and thus, the interstitium in the cryptorchid testis contained a number of vessels which was smaller than that of the interstitium in the scrotally located testis. The concentration of testosterone in the spermatic vein of the abdominal testis was 18.0 ± 5.5 (sd) ng/ml and the corresponding value for the scrotal testis was 41.2 ± 7.0 ng/ml. Calculations based on functional and morphological data indicate that the function of the Leydig cells in the abdominal testis was impaired. It was concluded that the outflow of testosterone from the cryptorchid testis was highly reduced.

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Influence of the cryptorchid testis on the regeneration of rat Leydig cells after administration of ethane dimethane sulphonate

Journal of Endocrinology ◽

10.1677/joe.0.1120197 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 112 (2) ◽

pp. 197-NP ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

G. P. Risbridger ◽

J. B. Kerr ◽

D. M. de Kretser

Keyword(s):

Functional Response ◽

Leydig Cells ◽

Interstitial Fluid ◽

Seminiferous Epithelium ◽

Rapid Recovery ◽

Interstitial Tissue ◽

Local Factor ◽

Testosterone Production ◽

Cryptorchid Testis

ABSTRACT Leydig cells were selectively eliminated from the testis by treatment with the cytotoxin, ethane dimethane sulphonate. Rats were then made unilaterally cryptorchid and the morphological and functional response of the interstitial tissue in abdominal compared with scrotal testes was examined for up to 8 weeks. Regeneration of new Leydig cells occurred more rapidly in the interstitial tissue of abdominally cryptorchid testes compared with the interstitial tissue of contralateral scrotal testes. More rapid recovery of Leydig cells was coincident with significant increases in the bioactivity of a local factor(s), collected from interstitial fluid of cryptorchid testes, which stimulated testosterone production by isolated Leydig cells in vitro. These results support the theory that the production of a local factor(s) plays a role in the regeneration of Leydig cells and is affected by damage to the seminiferous epithelium. J. Endocr. (1987) 112, 197–204

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Increase of Methionine Aminopeptidase Activity in Hyperplastic Leydig Cells of Rat Cryptorchid Testis: A Histochemical Study.

Journal of Veterinary Medical Science ◽

10.1292/jvms.54.1157 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 54 (6) ◽

pp. 1157-1163 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Tokihiro MATSUZAWA ◽

Makoto HATSUGAI ◽

Katsuhiko MORIGUCHI

Keyword(s):

Leydig Cells ◽

Histochemical Study ◽

Aminopeptidase Activity ◽

Methionine Aminopeptidase ◽

Cryptorchid Testis

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Ultrastructural Study of Human Testicular Biopsies in Infertility

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100090762 ◽

1976 ◽

Vol 34 ◽

pp. 156-157

Author(s):

Shirley Siew ◽

Philip Troen ◽

Howard R. Nankin

Keyword(s):

Electron Microscopy ◽

Transmission Electron Microscopy ◽

Basement Membrane ◽

Leydig Cells ◽

Clinical Evidence ◽

Young Male ◽

Germinal Epithelium ◽

Transmission Electron ◽

Age Range ◽

Male Subjects

Testicular biopsies were obtained from six young male subjects (age range 24-33) who complained of infertility and who had clinical evidence of oligospermia. This was confirmed on histological examination which showed a broad spectrum from profound hypospermatogenesis to relatively normal appearing germinal epithelium. Thickening of the tubular walls was noted in half of the cases and slight peritubular fibrosis in one. The Leydig cells were reported as normal or unremarkable.Transmission electron microscopy showed that the thickening of the supporting tissue of the germinal epithelium was caused more by an increase in the thickness of the layers of the lamina propria than of the tubular wall itself. The changes in the basement membrane of the tubular wall consisted mostly of a greater degree of infolding into the tubule and some reduplication which gave rise to a multilayered appearance.

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The structure of the gills of the axolotl, Ambystoma mexicanum

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100128407 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 45 ◽

pp. 824-825

Author(s):

Mohinder S. Jarial

Keyword(s):

Leydig Cells ◽

Secretory Granules ◽

Light And Electron Microscopy ◽

Cell Types ◽

Ambystoma Mexicanum ◽

Basal Cells ◽

Granular Cells ◽

Gill Filaments ◽

Mitotic Figures ◽

Apical Membranes

The axolotl is a strictly aquatic salamander in which the larval external gills are retained throughout life. The external gills of the adult axolotl have been studied by light and electron microscopy for ultrastructural evidence of ionic transport. The thin epidermis of the gill filaments and gill stems is composed of 3 cell types: granular cells, the basal cells and a sparce population of intervening Leydig cells. The gill epidermis is devoid of muscles, and no mitotic figures were observed in any of its cells.The granular cells cover the gill surface as a continuous layer (Fig. 1, G) and contain secretory granules of different forms, located apically (Figs.1, 2, SG). Some granules are found intimately associated with the apical membrane while others fuse with it and release their contents onto the external surface (Fig. 3). The apical membranes of the granular cells exhibit microvilli which are covered by a PAS+ fuzzy coat, termed “glycocalyx” (Fig. 2, MV).

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Smooth endoplasmic reticulum in perfusion and immersion-fixed Leydig cells

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100157954 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 48 (3) ◽

pp. 82-83

Author(s):

R.T.F. Bernard ◽

R.H.M. Cross

Keyword(s):

Endoplasmic Reticulum ◽

Electron Microscope ◽

Steroid Hormones ◽

Transmission Electron Microscope ◽

Leydig Cells ◽

Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum ◽

Random Mixture ◽

Transmission Electron

Smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER) is involved in the biosynthesis of steroid hormones, and changes in the organisation and abundance of this organelle are regularly used as indicators of changes in the level of steroidogenesis. SER is typically arranged as a meshwork of anastomosing tubules which, with the transmission electron microscope, appear as a random mixture of cross, oblique and longitudinal sections. Less commonly the SER appears as swollen vesicles and it is generally suggested that this is an artefact caused during immersion fixation or during immersion of poorly-perfused tissue.During a previous study of the Leydig cells of a seasonally reproducing bat, in which tissue was fixed by immersion, we noted that tubular SER and vesicular SER often occured in adjacent cells and sometimes in the same cell, and that the abundance of the two types of SER changed seasonally. We came to doubt the widelyheld dogma that vesicular SER was an artefact of immersion fixation and set out to test the hypothesis that the method of fixation does not modify the ultrastructure of the SER.

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"STEROID-CELL" ANTIBODY IN ENDOCRINE DISEASES

Acta Endocrinologica ◽

10.1530/acta.0.0760729 ◽

1974 ◽

Vol 76 (4) ◽

pp. 729-740 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Peter Kamp ◽

Per Platz ◽

Jørn Nerup

Keyword(s):

Leydig Cells ◽

Addison’S Disease ◽

Addison's Disease ◽

Hormone Production ◽

Cortical Cells ◽

Endocrine Diseases ◽

Cell Antibody ◽

Indirect Immunofluorescence Technique ◽

Males And Females ◽

Adrenal Cortical Cells

ABSTRACT By means of an indirect immunofluorescence technique, sera from 116 patients with Addison's disease, an equal number of age and sex matched controls and 97 patients with other endocrine diseases were examined for the occurrence of antibody to steroid-producing cells in ovary, testis and adrenal cortex. Fluorescent staining was observed in the theca cells of growing follicles, the theca lutein cells, testicular Leydig cells and adrenal cortical cells, i. e. cells which contain enzyme systems used in steroid hormone production. The "steroid-cell" antibody was present in 24 % of the patients with idiopathic Addison's disease, equally frequent in males and females, and in 17 % of the patients with tuberculous Addison's disease, but was rarely found in controls, including patients with other endocrine diseases. Female hypergonadotrophic hypogonadism made an exception, since the "steroid-cell" antibody was found in about half the cases with this condition.

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