IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL LOCALIZATION OF CALMODULIN IN THE TESTES OF PATIENTS WITH IDIOPATHIC MALE-INFERTILITY

The localization of calmodulin in testes of patients with idiopathic m ale infertility was studied using the indirect immunoperoxidase method . Specimens were obtained by testicular biopsy from 55 patients. They were divided into 26 cases of hypospermatogenesis, 11 cases of maturat ion arrest (8 of primary spermatocyte arrest and 3 of spermatid arrest ) and 18 cases of Sertoli cell-only syndrome. Regardless of the type o f testicular pathology, the types of immunoreactive cell and the inten sities of staining were the same as those in the normal testis. That i s, staining for calmodulin was first found to be positive in early pac hytene primary spermatocytes. It became intense in late pachytene prim ary spermatocytes and round spermatids. By contrast, elongated spermat ids and spermatozoa were not stained. Sertoli cells were stained sligh tly or not at all. A calmodulin-staining index (CaM-S index) was defin ed as the proportion of primary spermatocytes that were stained intens ely for calmodulin relative to the total number of primary spermatocyt es. The indices for the testes of men with complete spermatocyte matur ation arrest were significantly lower than those for the testes of nor mal controls and of men with hypospermatogenesis. Degenerating late pa chytene spermatocytes observed in the testes of men with spermatocyte arrest showed low calmodulin-specific immunoreactivity. Such a decreas e in numbers of normal late pachytene spermatocytes might be responsib le for the low CaM-S index in cases of complete spermatocyte arrest.