Particular ultrastructural aspects of cryptorchid testis in adult and advanced age

Abstract

The authors have observed with E.M. Philips 301 some biopsies obtained from testes of cryptorchid patients aged between 38 and 72 to study the ultrastructural aspects of seminiferous tubules in this age. Tissues were fixed in 2% phosphate-buffered solution of glutaraldehyde and then postfixed in 1% osmium tetroxide, processed for routine electron microscopy. The seminiferous tubules appear strongly damaged and we have observed numerous Sertoli cells and only few dark spermatogonia. The Sertoli cells appear either normal and mature or with a cytoplasm filled with big lipid droplets and large amounts of glycogen. The basal membrane of the seminiferous tubules is thickened. Leydig cells are characterized by dilated smooth endoplasmic reticulum and numerous nuclear bodies.