Effect of vasectomy on the testis and accessory sex glands of the musk shrew, Suncus murinus L.

The effects of uni- and bilateral vasectomy on the testis and accessory sex glands were studied at intervals up to six months. Vasectomy induced degenerative changes in the seminiferous tubules during the first four months after the operation; thereafter a partial recovery of spermatogenesis was noticed at six months post-vasectomy. Unilateral vasectomy induced degenerative changes only in the ipsilateral testis; the contralateral testis presented normal histology and showed no evidence of compensatory hypertrophy. The Leydig cells, however, remained unaffected in vasectomized shrews. No significant change was found in the concentrations of protein, RNA and DNA in the testis and of fructose in the ampullary gland in uni- and bilaterally vasectomized animals as compared with controls. The absence of any change in the concentration of fructose, weight of the accessory sex glands and histology of the ampullary gland and Leydig cells in vasectomized animals suggests that endocrine functions of the testes are not affected by vasectomy.