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Ultrastructure and morphometry of testicular Leydig cells and the interstitial components correlated with testosterone in aging rats

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Abstract

The ultrastructure of testicular interstitium in young and aged adult rats was analysed using morphometric methods, and the plasma testosterone concentration was measured. With increasing age there was an augumentation in the volume of collagen fibrils in the intercellular matrix and in blood vessels. During the aging process (approximately two years) the average volume of the Leydig cell decreased from 1364 μm3 to 637 μm3, but the number of Leydig cells in paired testes increased from 53x106 to 113x106. The absolute volume of smooth surfaced endoplasmic reticulum (SER) per Leydig cell amounted in aged rats to 78% of that in young adult rats. The total amount of SER in paired testes increased by 62% with aging. The present analysis suggests that the ability of SER to maintain peripheral testosterone concentration decreases with age. In young adult rats the absolute volume of peroxisomes per Leydig cell correlated significantly with the concentration of testosterone in blood and also with the absolute volume of SER per Leydig cell. These results combined with ultrastructural observations of close apposition of peroxisomes and SER suggest that peroxisomes have a role in testosterone secretion by Leydig cells.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy, Aichi Medical University, Yazako, Nagakute-cho, 480-11, Aichi-gun, Aichi-ken, Japan

    Ichiro Ichihara & Hideto Kawamura

  2. Laboratory of Electron Microscopy, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

    Lauri J. Pelliniemi

Authors
  1. Ichiro Ichihara
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  2. Hideto Kawamura
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  3. Lauri J. Pelliniemi
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Visiting scientist to Laboratory of Electron Microscopy (Director: Prof. L.J. Pelliniemi)

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Ichihara, I., Kawamura, H. & Pelliniemi, L.J. Ultrastructure and morphometry of testicular Leydig cells and the interstitial components correlated with testosterone in aging rats. Cell Tissue Res 271, 241–255 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00318610

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00318610

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