Structural manifestations of the rat Sertoli cell to hypophysectomy: a correlative morphometric and endocrine study.

Abstract

Although the Sertoli cell is a key cell mediating the actions of FSH- and LH-stimulated testosterone (T) in the testis, there is little information to indicate how this cell responds structurally to hormonal insufficiency. The present study used morphometric techniques to study the structural manifestations of the Sertoli cell in adult rats hypophysectomized for 6 and 28 days. Six days posthypophysectomy, a period when germ cell degeneration is first evident, tubular diameter and length, testis weights, volume of the interstitium, and volume of most parameters that comprise the interstitium (except blood vessels) showed significant regressive features. However, virtually no parameter relating to the volume and surface area of the Sertoli cell or its subcellular components was significantly reduced compared with that in the normal animal. Thus, at a time when germ cell degeneration is seen in the testis, the Sertoli cell showed no significant structural response to the changing endocrine status of the animal. In contrast, 28 days after hypophysectomy, virtually all parameters relating to the Sertoli cell and its organelles were significantly decreased compared with those in normal animals. Plasma and tissue testosterone, PRL, and FSH showed a very significant decrease 6 days after hypophysectomy compared with intact animals, but at 28 days there was no further significant decrease in the levels of these hormones. There was no correlation of most organelle volumes and surface areas with endocrine parameters. The size of the Sertoli cell showed positive and significant correlations with the volumes and surface areas of all of its cytoplasmic organelles, except the lipid volume. Short term hypophysectomy resulted in no significant change in either the concentration (femtomoles per mg protein) or the content (femtomoles per testis) of FSH receptors, nor was there a significant change in the number of FSH receptors per cell. However, 28 days after hypophysectomy only the content, not the concentration, of FSH receptors decreased significantly along with a decrease in the number of FSH receptors per cell. Although the marked degenerative changes that are seen in the testis 6 days after hypophysectomy parallel endocrine decline, the Sertoli cell responded slowly from a structural standpoint compared with the Leydig cell. After long term hypophysectomy, significant morphometric changes were observed in all of its structural parameters.

Toxicological studies of Momordica charantia Linn Seed extracts in Male Mice

“…testis. The observed reduction of the testicular weight may be due to the altered production of seminiferous tubular fluid (Ghosh et al, 1992). The protein content of any organ is directly proportional to the growth rate.…”

Avaliação histomorfométrica do parênquima testicular de ratos adultos tratados com diferentes doses de ivermectina

“…Foram realizadas as análises de variância entre os grupos (ANOVA) e o teste de Tukey, com nível de significância de P<0,05. (Ghosh et al, 1992), resultado semelhante ao observado no diâmetro tubular dos animais-controle desse experimento. Além disso, como não houve diferença no diâmetro tubular entre os grupos experimentais, é possível afirmar que a ivermectina não influenciou nesta característica morfométrica testicular nem na atividade espermatogênica.…”

Developmental Expression and Endocrine Regulation of CYP1B1 in Rat Testis

“…Effect of Treatment with Pituitary Hormones. Hypophysectomy disrupts the pituitary-testis axis by altering secretion of pituitary hormones, such as GH (Jansson et al, 1985), LH (MendisHandagama, 1997), FSH (Ghosh et al, 1992), and prolactin (Ghosh et al, 1992). To investigate the effect of GH on testicular CYP1B1 protein expression, intact and hypophysectomized adult male rats were treated with GH (0.12 g/g b.wt.)…”

“…Hypophysectomy is known to disrupt androgen biosynthesis and to reduce circulating androgen levels (Ghosh et al, 1992). To determine whether administration of exogenous androgen is capable of restoring testicular CYP1B1 expression, hypophysectomized adult rats were treated with testosterone propionate (0.5 or 5 mg/kg) or an equivalent volume of the vehicle by once-daily subcutaneous injection for 14 consecutive days (Bandiera and Dworschak, 1992;Sundseth and Waxman, 1992).…”