ACTA VETERINARIA ET ZOOTECHNICA SINICA ›› 2015, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (12): 2282-2290.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2015.12.021

Previous Articles     Next Articles

The Histologic Characteristics of Yak Cryptorchidism

CHEN Guo-juan,YUAN Li-gang*,LI Cong,YAN Zhen-long   

  1. (College of Veterinary Medicine,Gansu Agricultural University,Lanzhou 730070,China)
  • Received:2015-04-02 Online:2015-12-23 Published:2015-12-23

Abstract:

The aim of this study was to observe the histologic characteristics of adult yaks cryptorchidism and analyze the influence of plateau environment on the cryptorchidism reproductive microenvironment.Masson’s and Gomori’s staining,histochemistry and transmission electron methods was used to characterize the microstructure and ultrastructure of cryptorchidism,normal testis and unilateral normal testis in yak,and IPP(Image-Pro Plus) statistics method was used to quantitative statistics.The volume and weight of yak cryptorchidism were lesser than the normal testis and companied with depression of the lumen,the basement membrane was thickened,as well as the diameter of seminiferous tubule was significantly reduced(P<0.01).The spermatogenic cells desquamated and immature Sertoli cells were scattered in the tubule.Obviously,there were mitochondria degeneration and many lipofuscin granules with different sizes in the Sertoli cells.Besides,the area ratio of interstitial to lumen was significantly increased(P<0.01),the numbers of Leydig cells were decreased,and the mitochondria in it was swelling.There were partly calcification was observed in parenchyma and not only the quantity of interstitial vascular was reduced but the vessel wall was thicken and shrunken.The seminiferous epithelium of unilateral normal testis were 3-4 layers with matured Sertoli cells,the primary spermatocytes and spermatozoa were rarely seen,and there was no difference with the normal testis in interstitial/lumen area ratios(P>0.05).The number of Leydig cells increased and the endoplasmic reticulum in it were represented as an loose and vesiculated network and the number of mitochondria were decreased.VEGF and its receptor(VEGFR2) immunoreactivities were abundantly distributed in the gonads of cryptorchidism,normal testis and unilateral normal testis,mainly associated with Sertoli cells,Leydig cells and spermatogenic cells,and weakly present throughout the vascular endothelial cells.Immunostaining analysis appeared that the relative expression of VEGF in cryptorchidism was significantly decreased than in normal testis and unilateral normal testis(P<0.05),by contrast,the expression of VEGFR2 in cryptorchidism was stronger than the other two groups.But the expression of VEGF and VEGFR2 had no significant difference between the normal and unilateral normal testis(P>0.05).Taken together,in plateau environment,the cryptorchidism vascular of Yak was suffocated,the seminiferous function was seriously affected by the different degree of fibrosis and calcification in parenchyma and the dysplasia of the Sertoli cell;but in unilateral normal testis,companying the number of Leydig cells increased,the number of mitochondria decreased and also growth degree was decreased compared with the normal tissue.Our results suggest that the VEGF and VEGFR2 may serve as regulators to participate in the bilateral testicular spermatogenic suppression effect.

CLC Number: