Turnover time of Leydig cells and other interstitial cells in testes of adult rats.

The aim of this study was to investigate the turnover of Leydig cells and other interstitial cells in the adult rat testis. Normal adult rats received injections of [3H]thymidine at 9:00 and 21:00 for 2, 5, or 8 days. The percentage of labeled Leydig cells, which was initially low (0.8% +/- 0.2%), gradually increased during treatment to 1.4% +/- 0.3%. The percentage of labeled peritubular cells was considerably higher and increased from 1.4% +/- 0.1% to 3.5% +/- 0.4% during [3H]thymidine treatment. The remaining interstitial cells were the most actively proliferating cells: the percentage of labeled cells increased from 2.4% +/- 0.2% to 7.5% +/- 0.8% during [3H]thymidine treatment. Leydig cells, peritubular cells, and the remaining interstitial cells in the adult rat testis undergo proliferation. By means of a linear regression analysis and an arcsin transformation, an estimation of the time interval needed to replace various types of interstitial cells was obtained. Taking into account the 95% confidence interval, the turnover time of Leydig cells ranged from 142 to 2823 days. The calculated turnover time for the peritubular cells was 85 to 257 days.