Testicular amyloidosis in hamsters experimentally infected with Leishmania donovani.

Thirty hamsters were inoculated intraperitoneally with Leishmania donovani. Testes were examined grossly and histologically by light and electron microscopy. Progressive testicular atrophy developed. Spermatogenic cells of the seminiferous tubules showed vacuolar degeneration and decreased in number leading to a total azoospermia in the final weeks of the pathological process. Lymphoplasmocytic infiltrates with macrophages containing leishmanias appeared in the intertubular space. Amyloid deposits in the intertubular space and tubular basement membrane were identified by optical and ultrastructural methods. It has been suggested that testicular amyloidosis may have a pathogenic mechanism related to a dysfunction of plasma cells and stimulation of the reticuloendothial system, due to the antigenic character of the parasite.