NEUROENDOCRINE MARKER SUBSTANCES IN HUMAN LEYDIG-CELLS - CHANGES BY DISTURBANCES OF TESTICULAR FUNCTION

A number of neuroendocrine and neuronal markers were demonstrated in L eydig cells of the testes of 18 men aged between 20 and 81 years. Tiss ue sections were divided into five groups, i.e. carcinoma of the prost ate (control cases; n = 4), seminoma (n = 8), anti-androgen therapy (n = 3), oestradiol therapy (n = 2) and cryptorchidism (n = 1). The foll owing substances were immunocytochemically tested: the monoamine synth esizing enzymes tyrosine hydroxylase, aromatic L-amino acid decarboxyl ase, dopamine-beta-hydroxylase and phenylethanolamine-N-methyltransfer ase, the indolamine serotonin, the calcium-binding proteins parvalbumi n, calbindin and S-100 protein, the microtubule associated protein-2, as well as neurofilament protein 200, synaptophysin, neuron specific e nolase, substance P and chromogranin A+B. All these substances were fo und in Leydig cells of all sections independently of the pathological changes of the testes. Compared with the control cases, all the other groups showed a significantly weaker immunoreactivity for all markers. The uniformity of staining among the different antibodies allows the deduction that these neuroactive peptides may belong to a basic equipm ent of Leydig cells probably stabilizing their function in an autocrin e manner. On the other hand, Leydig cells themselves seem to be a stab le structural component of the testis, which are not essentially invol ved in the pathogenesis of the disturbances mentioned above.