Microvascular architecture of rat and human testes.

We made corrosion casts of the testicular vessels in rats and humans and investigated their architecture by scanning electron microscopy. Two types of capillaries, intertubular and peritubular, were clearly demonstrated in the rat testis; the former formed a dense network with a polyhedral shape and the latter had a rope-ladder-like appearance. The architecture of the human testis was very complicated; the intertubular capillaries formed either no clear capillary network or a very loose one. The peritubular capillaries did not show a rope-ladder-like appearance.