The transepithelial movement of water into the male reproductive tract is an essential process for normal male fertility. Protein water channels, referred to as aquaporins (AQPs), are involved in increasing the osmotic permeability of membranes. This study has examined the expression of AQP1, AQP2, and AQP7 in epithelial cells in adult dog efferent ducts, epididymis, and vas deferens. Samples of dog male reproductive tract comprising fragments of the testis, initial segment, caput, corpus and cauda epididymidis, and vas deferens were investigated by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting procedures to show the localization and distribution of the AQPs. AQP1 was noted in rete testis, in efferent ducts, and in vessels in the intertubular space, suggesting that AQP1 participated in the absorption of the large amount of testicular fluid occurring characteristically in the efferent ducts. AQP2 expression was found in the rete testis, efferent ducts and epididymis, whereas AQP7 was expressed in the epithelium of the proximal regions of the epididymis and in the vas deferens. This is the first time that AQP2 and AQP7 have been observed in these regions of mammalian excurrent ducts, but their functional role in the dog male reproductive tract remains unknown. Investigations of AQP biology could be relevant for clinical studies of the male reproductive tract and to technologies for assisted procreation.

Aquaporins (AQPs) are small, intrinsic membrane proteins that are present in many cell types involved in fluid transport. AQP9 is a major apical water channel that is expressed throughout the efferent ducts, epididymis, and vas deferens, as well as in other regions of the human and rodent male reproductive tract. The target of this study was to examine the expression of AQP9 in epithelial cells in the adult dog efferent ducts, epididymis, and vas deferens. Samples of dog male reproductive tract comprising fragments of the testis; initial segment, caput, corpus, and cauda of the epididymis; and vas deferens were obtained from eight adult mongrel dogs. Immunohistochemistry and Western blotting procedures were used to show AQP9 localization and distribution. AQP9 expression was not detected either in dog seminiferous tubules or rete testis. However, apical labeling for AQP9 was detected in the different regions of epididymis and vas deferens, with the reaction being less intense in the caput epididymis. Thus, AQP9 is abundantly expressed in dog male reproductive tract, in which it is an important apical pathway for transmembrane flow of water and neutral solutes. Anat Rec, 290:1519Rec, 290: -1525Rec, 290: , 2007Rec, 290: . 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

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An anatomical study of the tricuspid valve was performed in the hearts of 45 dogs using a method of dissection which preserves the integrity of the valve. Morphometrical criteria such as the width of the cusp base and larger depth of cusp and morphological criteria such as the number of tendinous cords, the perimeter of the fibrous ring and the properties of the papillary muscle were adopted for the characterization of a cusp. The tricuspid valve was not consistent with three cusps, but it was observed to present 2, 4 or 5 cusps in 68% of the cases.

The ductus epididymis has roles in the maturation and storage of spermatozoa. The main function of the cauda epididymis is the storage of spermatozoa; however, this region exerts other morphophysiological roles. So, this study was aimed at investigating structural features of the cauda epididymis epithelium, which could indicate roles other than the storage. The relative percentages of the cell types in the epithelium were 74.9, 6.9, 12.5 and 5.6% of principal, clear, basal and halo cells respectively. Large intercellular spaces were seen among the lateral plasmatic membranes of adjacent principal cells or among these cells and others cell types. These spaces were found to be filled with multivesicular bodies, myelin figures, scrolls and debris of membranes or flocculent dense material. Clear cells had the cytoplasms filled with lysosomes ((3/4) of basal cytoplasm), and vacuoles and vesicles ((1/4) of apical cytoplasm). The observations allowed us to infer that clear cells could act in the process of endocytosis and also in water transfer from the lumen to the interstitium through the epithelium compartment. Moreover, transcytosis may occur at the cauda epididymis of Golden hamster.

Morphological investigations of the epithelial cell types that line the ductuli efferentes (DE) of black isogenic mice confirm absorption of the luminal fluid phase by endocytosis as the main function of ductuli efferentes (DE) in this species. Furthermore, all the histochemical and ultrastructural observations on the DE epithelial histoarchitecture indicate other cellular functions such as exocytosis and probably secretion, including an aprocrine secretory process.

Variação sazonal na morfologia dos ductos eferentes distais em codorna doméstica mantida em cativeiro experimental.Ciência Rural, v.38, n.6, set, 2008. Ciência Rural, Santa Maria, v.38, n.6, p.1643-1649, set, 2008 ISSN 0103-8478

It was our objective to analyse the effects of resistance exercise (climbing steps), which was started in the acute phase, on the histomorphometry and the expression of aquaporin 1 (AQP1) in the soleus muscle after sciatic nerve injury in Wistar rats. Twenty-four adult rats were randomly divided into the following four groups, containing six animals each: control (G1); exercise (G2); injury (G3); and exercise with injury (G4). Three days after the compression of the sciatic nerve, the animals in G2 and G4 were submitted to resistance exercise for 21 non-consecutives days. The exercise was conducted in two series of 10 consecutive ascents of the ladder, with an additional weight of 100g and with an interval of 60 seconds between sets for rest. After this period, the animals were sacrificed, and the soleus muscle was processed. The number of blood capillaries in G3 was 65.7% and 76.86% higher when compared with the G2 and G4, respectively. The morphological analysis revealed muscle damage in G3, hypertrophy in G2 and significant improvement in the muscle in G4. The AQP1 was immunolocalized in the endothelium of blood capillaries present in the muscle fibres, with different expressions in the groups. Resistance exercise initiated in the acute phase was an effective therapeutic modality in the recovery of morphological aspects in the soleus muscle after denervation.