Xie Bao-Guo, Li Jing, Zhu Wei-Jie
Department of Developmental and Regenerative Biology, College of Life Science and Technology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510632, P.R. China.
Department of Pathophysiology, Medical College, Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510632, P.R. China.
Exp Ther Med. 2014 Mar;7(3):654-656. doi: 10.3892/etm.2014.1481. Epub 2014 Jan 9.
Mouse testicular experimental models are widely used in the study of andrology, reproductive toxicology and pharmacology. Under physiological conditions, a normal adult mouse is usually considered to have normal testes. However, whether normal adult mouse testes exhibit pathological changes has not been evaluated. The objective of this study was to investigate the pathological changes of testicular tissues in normal adult mice. A retrospective analysis of 720 adult male Kunming mice, used in previous studies as controls, was performed. Bilateral testicular tissues were stained with hematoxylin and eosin for pathological examinations. Among the 720 mice, nine had abnormal testes, an incidence of 1.3%. The nine mice with abnormal testes included two with microrchidia (22.2%) while the others had a normal testicular size. The observed pathological changes associated with microrchidia were seminiferous epithelial vacuolation, spermatogenesis arrest at the spermatocyte stage and the absence of sperm in all tubules. In other abnormal testes, pathological alterations included seminiferous epithelial vacuolation, severe hypospermatogenesis and symplasts composed of collapsed spermatids in tubules. The results demonstrate that normal adult male mice exhibit testicular pathological changes. Therefore, the possibility of abnormal testes in normal adult mice must be considered when using mice to establish a testicular experimental model.
小鼠睾丸实验模型广泛应用于男科学、生殖毒理学和药理学研究。在生理条件下，正常成年小鼠通常被认为睾丸正常。然而，正常成年小鼠睾丸是否存在病理变化尚未得到评估。本研究的目的是调查正常成年小鼠睾丸组织的病理变化。对先前研究中用作对照的720只成年雄性昆明小鼠进行了回顾性分析。双侧睾丸组织用苏木精和伊红染色进行病理检查。在这720只小鼠中，有9只睾丸异常，发生率为1.3%。9只睾丸异常的小鼠中，2只患有小睾丸症（22.2%），其他小鼠睾丸大小正常。观察到的与小睾丸症相关的病理变化为生精上皮空泡化、精子发生停滞在精母细胞阶段以及所有小管中均无精子。在其他异常睾丸中，病理改变包括生精上皮空泡化、严重精子发生减少以及小管中由塌陷的精子细胞组成的合体细胞。结果表明，正常成年雄性小鼠存在睾丸病理变化。因此，在使用小鼠建立睾丸实验模型时，必须考虑正常成年小鼠睾丸异常的可能性。
