Fe. Johnson et al., TESTICULAR CIRCULATORY ISOLATION - NOT A CAUSE OF IMMUNE-MEDIATED TESTIS INJURY IN THE RAT, Annals of surgical oncology, 3(4), 1996, pp. 400-405
Background: Testicular circulatory isolation (TCI), a regional drug ex
clusion approach designed to prevent chemotherapy-induced male inferti
lity, can reduce testicular drug exposure and preserve fertility. The
immunological sequelae of this surgical procedure were investigated. M
ethods: Forty Sprague-Dawley rats received unilateral TCI for 45 min a
nd were killed at intervals of up to 43 days later. Testicular histolo
gy was evaluated qualitatively using hematoxylin and eosin stain, a di
rect immunofluorescent technique for detection of antigen-antibody com
plexes, and an indirect immunofluorescent technique to detect circulat
ing antitestis antibodies. Results: No immune-mediated injury was evid
ent up to 43 days after TCI. Conclusion: The current work, taken toget
her with previously published data, indicate that TCI produces no immu
nological damage in the rat testis. Because TCI is well tolerated in h
umans, this work also supports the institution of human clinical trial
s of this technique in men about to receive fertility-threatening chem
otherapy.