Background: Prolonged alcohol abuse in men can cause testosterone deficiency and shrinkage of the testicles (testicular atrophy). This can lead to impotence, sterility and ‘feminisation’. When alcohol is broken down in the body, it may also interfere with normal sperm structure and movement. This study was designed to determine the effects of administration of alcohol on sperm quality, sperm ma...

Boar rete testis fluid and luminal contents from nine epididymal segments were collected for analysis. From proximal to distal, segments were designated A, B, C (caput), Da, Db, Ea (corpus) and Eb, Fa, Fb (cauda). Concentrations of sperm, protein and soluble sperm membrane glycoprotein S2P3 were lowest in the caput epididymidis (region A) and highest in the proximal corpus epididymidis (region ...

Bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI) is an endogenous antibiotic protein with activity against gram-negative bacteria. In the present study, we examined the expression of BPI in postnatal mouse testes and epididymides as well as the subcellular localization within epididymal spermatozoa. Our results showed that, BPI mRNA was expressed in testis and epididymis independently. Throug...

We present a case of 72-year old man treated from 2007 for superficial bladder carcinoma. Patient had undergone surgical intervention for transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder, followed by BCG therapy. Two years later enlarged right testis and epididymis was observed. A resection was carried out. Histologic examination revealed in epididymis cauda granulomatous infiltration with eosinophil...

Recently we reported that mouse germ cells in the testis contain active P450 aromatase (P450arom), the enzyme that converts androgens to estrogens. This finding suggested that germ cells have the ability to produce estrogen. Further studies have shown that germ cells in the testis of several species contain P450arom. The goal of this study was to determine if epididymal sperm contain P450arom a...

Release of testosterone from silastic implants over a period of 90 days resulted in variable stimulation of the epididymis and accessory glands of reproduction in the castrated rhesus monkey. While the weights of the seminal vesicles, prostate gland and bulbo-urethral glands were maintained at the same level as the intact control animals by four or eight implants of testosterone, those of the e...

Although many environmental agents are established male germ cell mutagens, few are known to induce mutations in spermatogonial stem cells. Stem cell mutations are of great concern because they result in a permanent increase in the number of mutations carried in sperm. We investigated mutation induction during mouse spermatogenesis following exposure to benzo(a)pyrene (BaP). MutaMouse males wer...

Guanethidine, a chemical that selectively blocks sympathetic noradrenergic neurons, was used to investigate the role of sympathetic innervation in the fertility of rat epididymal sperm, using both natural mating and in utero insemination protocols. This animal model correlates, at least in part, with spinal cord injury (SCI) in men. Adult male rats were treated daily by i.p. injections, for 21 ...

The ultrastructure of the principal cells of the mouse epididymis was studied using osmium impregnation techniques which have the advantage that the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) content displays a positive reactivity after glutaraldehyde fixation whereas the Golgi condensing vacuoles are negative. In the proximal part (caput) of the epididymis, the Golgi apparatus formed a large supranuclear area...