Ageing changes in the human testis: a light-microscopic study.

A histologic study of ageing testes, removed surgically from 'healthy' men aged 52-100 years, is presented. The age-related changes noted were: tubular sclerosis, Leydig cell hyperplasia, focal mononuclear orchitis, capsular smooth muscle hyperplasia, and dilatation of the rete testis. Great individual variations were seen but the testes, removed from patients with prostatic carcinoma, showed less severe ageing changes than those removed from patients during herniorrhaphy. The aetiology and pathogenesis of these changes are briefly discussed. A plea is made for more systematic studies of the ageing human testis, combining light microscopy with more sophisticated techniques, such as electron microscopy, histochemistry and cytochemistry.