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A STUDY OF THE MORPHOLOGY OF THE LEYDIG CELLS OF THE RAT AFTER UNILATERAL VASECTOMY

Departamento de Investigación Científica, del Centro Médico Nacional del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, México City, Mexico

(Received 18th March 1975)

Vasectomy is widely used as a method for sterilization, and recent surgical techniques have shown that the procedure can be reversed (Mehta & Ramani, 1970; Pardanani et al., 1973, 1974). It is therefore mandatory to evaluate the function of the gonads following vasectomy. Flickinger (1972) described the effects on the testis of the rat up to 9 months after vasectomy and found no morphological changes in the seminiferous tubules; only brief mention was made of the morphology of the Leydig cells. The present work was therefore designed to examine possible modifications in the number and/or morphology of these cells in the rat after vasectomy.

Forty-five adult Wistar male rats weighing 200 to 250 g were used. All animals were subjected to 12 hr light/12 hr dark and given Purina