PREVENTION OF SEMINIFEROUS TUBULAR ATROPHY IN A NATURALLY CRYPT ORCHID RAT MODEL BY EARLY SURGICAL INTERVENTION

In an attempt to determine whether the seminiferous tubular atrophy of the cryptorchid testis is preventable by early surgical correction of the cryptorchid state, aberrantly developed gubernacula destined to r esult in a cryptorchid testis in the Long-Evans cryptorchid (LE/ORL) r at were surgically reimplanted to the bottom of the scrotum on day 10 to 12 of age, Testis descent was monitored and the changes in testicul ar histology and in the volumes of the seminiferous tubules and Leydig cells were examined at day 60, As expected, normal testis descent occ urred on or about day 25. Compared to untreated undescended testes at day 60, relative seminiferous tubular volumes (volume, % +/- SEM) were significantly increased by early surgical reimplantation of the guber nacula (89 +/- 1 vs, 66 +/- 3; P < 0.01), Absolute seminiferous tubula r volumes (mu l +/- SEM) were also significantly increased by early su rgical intervention when compared to undescended nontreated testes (89 3 +/- 27 vs, 170 +/- 12; P < 0.01), The testes of the surgically corre cted cryptorchid animals were similar in ail respects to those found i n the descended testes of the sham-operated controls. Relative Leydig cell volume (% +/- SEM) was increased in the untreated cryptorchid tes tes compared to the surgically corrected testes (5.2 +/- 0.6 vs. 1.2 /- 1.0; P < 0.05). Relative Leydig cell volumes in the surgically corr ected testes were not significantly different from those found in the sham-operated descended controls. A modest but significant (P < 0.05) increase in absolute Leydig cell volume was also noted in the cryptorc hid testes when compared both to normal controls or surgically correct ed cryptorchid testes. From these observations, we conclude that early gubernaculopexy reverses the histologic changes normally seen in the cryptorchid rat testis to a relatively normal histologic architecture. These data provide experimental evidence to support the Value of orch iopexy in the treatment of cryptorchidism.