Multinucleated spermatocytes and spermatids in human seminiferous tubules.

The cytology of multinucleated spermatocytes and spermatid giant cells in the seminiferous tubules of men with oligozoospermia and of men older than 65 years has been investigated electron microscopically. Two different processes which are responsible for the origin of multinucleated germ cells have been analysed: Defects of the intercellular bridges (IB): they move apart and thus allow the confluence of one clone's cells to symplasms. The confluence of membranes: within one clone the membranes of neighbouring germ cells are dissolved and thus intercellular bridges are found in the cytoplasm of the resulting giant cells. The spermatid giant cells reveal a new organization of the cell nuclei and the cell organelles. Yet they disintegrate in the lumen of the seminiferous tubules. The appearance of giant cells therefore is an expression of the germ cell degeneration.