ISSN: 2640-2637
Authors: Hegazy AA, Ahmad MM, Aziz JA and Abd Almotaleb NA*
Background: Postnatal development of rats' testes passes through stages. Elucidation of changes occurring at each age stage is essential to recognize any pathological deviation. Aim: It was to investigate the histological and ultrastructure features of the rats' testes at different postnatal stages. Methods: Eight healthy non-pregnant adult female albino rats weighting 150-250 gm were brought to be pregnant. Their male pups were divided into four groups (10 each), according their postnatal day (PND) at the time of scarification as follows: group I, II, III and IV at 1st, 21st, 35th and 70th PND respectively. The testes were dissected and processed for both light microscope (LM) and electron microscope (EM) investigations. Results: Neonatal rat testis (group I) was formed of seminiferous cords containing gonocytes and immature Sertoli cells. The gonocytes or fetal germ cells were the most prominent finding in 1st PND within the non-canalized seminiferous cords. At PND 21 (group II), tubular diameter was increased with appearance of rounded spermatid at PND 26. The cell layers of the lining epithelium of the tubules were formed of spermatogonia, Sertoli cells and primary spermatocytes with large rounded cells with clumped chromatin. At PND 35 (group III), the tubular diameter was increased and showed more stratification of their epithelial lining with increased tubular cell layers. At PND 70 (group IV), the testis was formed of large seminiferous tubules, closely packed together. Conclusion: Development of testis is a continuous process in postnatal life reaching its maximum at sexual maturity “about 2 months of rat birthâ€.
Keywords: Testis; Anatomy; Development; Ultrastructure
