Testicular involution in elderly men: comparison of histologic quantitative studies with hormone patterns

Paniagua, Ricardo; Martin, A.; Nistal, Manuel; Amat, P

doi:10.1016/s0015-0282(16)59120-1

Cited by 54 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Length (2a) and width (2b) were measured in the sections through the sagittal plane and transformed into volume (4πab 2 )/3 (Paniagua et al 1987). The volume of testicular parenchyma (excluding the tunica albuginea) (V TP) ) was calculated by the same procedure.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Immunocytochemical and quantitative study of the tunica albuginea testis in young and ageing men

Arenas

Bethencourt

Fraile

et al. 1997

Histochemistry and Cell Biology

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A light and electron microscope immunohistochemical study of the tunica albuginea from both young and elderly men was carried out to determine the distribution of the cells that contain actin, vimentin and/or desmin, and to evaluate the possible variations with ageing by means of quantitative studies. Testicular volume and testicular parenchyma volume decreased significantly with age whereas the tunica albuginea volume remained unchanged. These results agree with the scanty quantitative changes observed in the testicular connective tissue with age, and the notion that age-related changes in testicular volume are principally restricted to the seminiferous tubules. Three connective tissue layers could be distinguished in the tunica albuginea in both young and elderly men. The middle and inner layers increased in width with age while the width of the outer layer decreased. The average width of the tunica albuginea increased significantly with ageing. The tunica albuginea of young men and elderly men presented two types of fusiform cells: (1) fibroblast-like cells, which immunoreacted to actin and vimentin, but not to desmin; and (2) myoid cells, which immunoreacted to actin, vimentin and desmin. In both young men and elderly men, the total number of desmin-positive cells (myoid cells) was significantly lower than that of fibroblasts. However, the total number of desmin-positive cells was significantly increased in ageing men. In young testes, desmin-positive cells were more abundant in the outer layer of the tunica albuginea, whereas in elderly men these cells predominated in the middle layer. The increased desmin immunoexpression in the tunica albuginea of ageing men contrasts with the decrease in desmin immunoreaction in other myoid cells of the testis, the peritubular myoid cells, but only in seminiferous tubules that showed severe germ cell depletion. This suggests that changes in intermediate filament immunoexpression in peritubular cells are focalised, and thus, under local control, whereas changes in the tunica albuginea cells are generalised and possibly related to factors also affecting the connective tissue in other organs.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Immunocytochemical and quantitative study of the tunica albuginea testis in young and ageing men

Arenas

Bethencourt

Fraile

et al. 1997

Histochemistry and Cell Biology

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“…The number of Sertoli cells per cross-sectioned tubule seems to be a constant and has been considered useful in the evaluation of the seminiferous epithelium through calculation of the Sertoli cell ratio for each germ cell type . Although the numbers of all germ cell types decrease with advancing age, the same does not occur with the Sertoli cell ratio because Sertoli cells are also lost with age (Johnson, 1986;Paniagua et al, 1987b). In a quantitative study of germ cell types in elderly men (Paniagua et al, 1987b), the Sertoli cell ratio to elongated spermatids was decreased in most of these men, the Sertoli cell ratio to round spermatids only appeared decreased in some groups of elderly men in the ninth decade of the life, and the Sertoli cell ratios for spermatogonia and spermatocytes remained constant in most men even in the ninth decade of life.…”

Section: Development Of Testicular Atrophymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, it has also been suggested that the enlargement of the tunica propria is secondary to germ cell loss and that the peritubular cells synthesize collagen fibers that fill the volume lost by the seminiferous epithelium (Soderstrom, 1986). In the human testis, the total volume per testis occupied by the tunica propria and myoid cells does not change with age (Johnson et al, , 1988 and the age-related increase in tunica propria thickness seems to be relative, that is, subsequent to the diminution in the length (Johnson, 1986) and width (Paniagua et al, 1987b) of the tubules.…”

Section: Development Of Testicular Atrophymentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultrastructure of the aging human testis

Paniagua

Nistal²,

Sáez³

et al. 1991

J. Elec. Microsc. Tech.

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121

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The ultrastructure of the progressive testicular involution with advancing age in men is reviewed. There is no definite age at which testicular involution begins, and the onset and severity of testicular lesions are subjected to pronounced individual variations. Hormone studies also indicate great individual variations, and subtle changes in both the testis and the pituitary develop progressively with age. Testicular size, sperm quality, and numbers of all germ cell types, Sertoli cells, and Leydig cells decrease with age. The volume occupied by the seminiferous tubules decreases, whereas that occupied by the testicular interstitium remains constant. The most frequent histological pattern of the aging testis is a mosaic of different seminiferous tubule lesions, varying from tubules with complete, although reduced, spermatogenesis, to completely sclerosed tubules. The tubules with complete spermatogenesis may show numerous morphological abnormalities in the germ cells, including multinucleation. Abnormal germ cells degenerate causing Sertoli cell vacuolation. These vacuoles correspond to dilations of the extracellular spaces resulting from the premature exfoliation of germ cells. Degenerating cells that are phagocytosed by the Sertoli cells give rise to an accumulation of lipid droplets in the Sertoli cell cytoplasm. The loss of germ cells begins with the spermatids, but progressively affects the earlier germ cell types, and tubules with maturation arrest at the level of the spermatocytes or spermatogonia are observed. The Sertoli cells show morphological abnormalities such as dedifferentiation, mitochondrial metaplasia, and multinucleation. Germ cell loss is associated with thickening of the tunica propria. When all seminiferous epithelial cells have disappeared, only an intensely collagenized tunica propria with myoid cells remains (sclerosed tubules). The Leydig cells progressively dedifferentiate with a decrease in the quantity of both smooth endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria, together with an accumulation of lipid droplets, crystalline inclusions, and residual bodies, and formation of multinucleate cells. The development of tubular involution with age is similar to that observed after experimental ischemia, suggesting that vascular lesions may play an important role in age-related testicular atrophy.

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“…The total Leydig and Sertoli cell numbers, estimated by use of stereological methods, differed from the results obtained from most previous studies. The estimated total Sertoli cell numbers have been reported to range from 390 to 3700x10 6 and the total Leydig cell number from 400 to 800x10 6 , calculated from twodimensional profile counting (Cortes et al, 1987;Paniagua et al, 1987;Kaler and Neaves, 1978;Neaves et al, 1985). These large ranges may be ascribed to the difficulties in interpretation of results obtained from assumption based designs as previously described (Mendis-Handagama and Ewing, 1990;Mendis-Handagama, 1992).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Efficient and Unbiased Tools for Quantitating Leydig and Sertoli Cells in the Testis From Testes Biopsies

Petersen¹,

Giwercman²,

Gundersen³

et al. 2011

Image Anal Stereol

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The possibility of obtaining reliable estimates of the total number of Sertoli and Leydig cells from biopsies by use of the optical fractionator method was tested. The total number of Sertoli and Leydig cells was 522x10 6 (CV = 0.27) and 89x10 6 (CV = 0.34), respectively, when sampling in the entire testis while the mean total number of Sertoli and Leydig cells, sampling from biopsies, was 494x10 6 and 103x10 6 , respectively, statistically a non-significant difference. The present study indicated that total number of testicular cells can be estimated stereologically from the number of cells in biopsies if the sizes of testis and the biopsy can be assessed with adequate precision.

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Testicular involution in elderly men: comparison of histologic quantitative studies with hormone patterns

Cited by 54 publications

References 18 publications

Immunocytochemical and quantitative study of the tunica albuginea testis in young and ageing men

Immunocytochemical and quantitative study of the tunica albuginea testis in young and ageing men

Ultrastructure of the aging human testis

Efficient and Unbiased Tools for Quantitating Leydig and Sertoli Cells in the Testis From Testes Biopsies

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