Histological changes in the testis of the domestic fowl after adenohypophysectomy.

Twenty-two cockerels were adenohypophysectomized by the improved transbuccal approach to observe histological changes in the testis during 60 postoperative days. Total adenohypophysectomy induced a collapse of spermatogenic cells and a decrease in the diameter of seminiferous tubules, accompanied by a rapid decrease in testicular weight. The patterns of degeneration of various spermatogenic cells were different from each other. Spermatozoa and spermatids were detached from the epithelium by day 5, spermatocytes by day 10, and more than half of spermatogonia by day 20 after the operation. Sertoli cells reduced their cytoplasmic processes on day 3 but still retained their height to sustain an indented form of epithelium between days 3 and 10, when most spermatogenic cells were disengaged from the epithelium. Sertoli cells were never sloughed off into the lumen. On and after day 20, seminiferous epithelium was monolayered, consisting of atrophied Sertoli cells with small sized nuclei and spermatogonia. Interstitial cells tended to agglomere maximum on day 60. Interstitium occupied more than 30% of estimated total volume of testis from day 20 onward. According to the observation on day 30, the degree of degeneration of seminiferous tubules in later stages depended on the location within the testis. The network of cytoplasmic processes of Sertoli cells persisted in the central but not in the peripheral region.