EFFECT OF EXPERIMENTAL VARICOCELE ON THE CONTRALATERAL TESTIS IN ADULT MALE ALBINO RATS
Mohamed Elsaidy and Morsy A. Abo-Elgoud
Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University
Background: varicocele has been often associated with diminished male fertility but the mechanism by which unilateral varicocele can cause changes in contralateral testis is not known. Material and methods: Fifteen adult male albino rats were used and divided into two groups: control (five rats) and experimental (10 rats). Animals of experimental group were subjected to left experimental varicocele for 8 weeks. At the end of experiment the rats were sacrificed and their right testes were removed, fixed and examined histologically and immunohistochemically for bcl-2 protein. Results: In experimental rats, the testes showed detachment and exfoliation of the germ cells into the tubular center, death and degeneration of most spermatogenic cells, widening and vacuolization of the intercellular spaces, degenerated spermatids and disappearance of spermatozoa in most of the seminiferous tubules. Expression of bcl-2 protein in most of spermatogonia, spermatocytes and spermatids were reduced compared to control. Conclusion: experimental unilateral varicocele induces contralateral testicular damage through lowering bcl-2 protein with subsequent increasing the rate of apoptosis in the spermatogenic epithelium.
June 2011