[Spermatogenesis in the aged--a borderland between normal and pathologic anatomy]

Abstract

Aging of the testis is a normal physiological process, which gradually proceeds with increasing age. Under normal conditions, an abrupt breaking off the spermatogenetic and hormonal functions of the testis does not occur. Already in the testis of every adult fertile man single degenerating germ cells are recognizable, the occurrence of which is understood as physiological germ cell loss. In men, older than 65 years, further degenerative changes of the germ cells and of the germinal epithelium regularly can be found, which have negative effects on the spermatogenetic activity of the germinal epithelium. These changes concern disturbances of the kinetics of spermatogenesis, disturbances of spermatogoniogensis and of meiosis, malformations of the spermatids, the release of immature germ cells from the germinal epithelium, the concentration of lipids within the Sertoli cells, the appearance of diverticles of the seminiferous tubules and possibly also atrophy of seminiferous tubules. In the course of regular testicular aging these degeneration phenomena can be observed to a relatively small extent diffusely distributed in the testis and exhibiting individual differences. A phatological alteration of the testicular tissue is under consideration as soon as a definitive pattern of damage predominates in the whole organ or when a focal degeneration of testicular tissue has appeared. The borderland between normal and pathological anatomy of testis tissue during aging is characterized.