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NUCLEIC ACID LABELLING OF EXPERIMENTALLY-INDUCED CRYPTORCHID RAT TESTIS

Summary.: The in vitro incorporation of [2-¹⁴C]thymidine and [2-¹⁴C]uridine into DNA and RNA respectively, has been studied in slices of immature, mature, cryptorchid, and contralateral-scrotal testes of the rat. The results demonstrate that DNA and RNA labelling are both enhanced in the cryptorchid testis following 30 days in the abdominal cavity. Of the four tissues studied, the immature testis possessed the highest in vitro rate of DNA and RNA labelling. In addition, uptake of [2-¹⁴C]uridine into RNA of the contralateral-scrotal testis of cryptorchid rats is elevated.

It is suggested that the enhanced nucleic acid labelling observed in the cryptorchid testis may be related to the predominance of those cells which normally synthesize nucleic acids during the cycle of the seminiferous epithelium, in association with compensatory gonadotrophin stimulation. Similarly, the increase in RNA labelling present in the contralateral scrotal testis may represent a compensatory `feed-back' mechanism from the pituitary by virtue of decreased testosterone production in the cryptorchid testis. Increased gonadotrophin output in cases of cryptorchidism may be a complicating factor in the increased tendency of abdominal testes to undergo neoplastic change.