The effects of prepubertal epididymal obstruction upon the seminifer tubul development and androgen receptor distributtion of the rat testis.

The aim of this study was to investigate; androgen receptor (AR)distribution in the rat testis in postnatal developing stages and the effects ofepididymal obstruction in prepubertal rats on the testes and AR distribution in thetestis15 days of age, the young rats were divided at random in to groups forepididymal ligation or sham operation. In group ligation the corpus epididymideswere ligated bilaterally, in group sham only laparatomy operation was performed.Both groups were sacrificed at 21, 35, 56, 91, 128 days. The testes were removed,fixed in Bouin?s fixative and embedded in paraffin wax. The tissues weresectioned at 5 ?m and stained with haematoxylin-eosin, P.A.S., Crossman, andusage of microwave stimulated antigen retrieval technique forimmunohistochemistry.The initial histological changes in the testes of ligated animals, observed at56 days, included; an increased, diameter of the seminiferous tubule and thicknessof the basal membrane, decreased thickness of the germinal epithelium, depletionof spermatids and presence of multinucleate spermatids. In 90 and 120 daysligation groups; germ cells greatly reduced in number and seminiferousepithelium was composed mainly of Sertoli cells. All of the sham groups rats ARimmunostaining was detected in the nuclei of peritubular myoid cells, pericytes,Sertoli cells, and Leydig cells, but not in germ cells. Immunostaining properties ofligation group?s rats were same with shame group except Sertoli cells.3Consequently; after prepubertal epididymal obstruction, progressivedegenerative alterations occurred in the seminiferous tubules and seminiferoustubules that showed extensive degeneration of the seminiferous epithelium withloss of virtually all members of the germ cell population, the nuclei of Sertoli cellswere not AR immunostaining.Key words: Androgen receptor, immunohistochemistry, epididymalobstruction, testis, rats.