Changes in testicular testosterone and acid and alkaline phosphatase activity in testis and accessory sex organs after induction of varicocele in Noble rats.

The present study was undertaken to determine the effects of surgically induced varicocele on testicular androgen production, seminiferous tubular diameter, and acid and alkaline phosphatase activities in testis and accessory sex organs in adult Noble rats. Testosterone concentrations in plasma and in both left and right testis were estimated in both sham-operated and varicocele-induced rats. The activities of acid and alkaline phosphatase were measured in both left and right testis, seminal vesicle, and ventral prostate gland in varicocele-induced and sham-operated rats. The levels of testosterone in plasma in rats with varicocele were lower than those in the sham-operated rats. The concentration of testosterone in the left testis was lower than that in the right testis in varicocele-induced rats while no such differences were observed in sham-operated rats. The seminiferous tubular diameter in the left testis is reduced in varicocele-induced rats from that in the right testis. In the sham animals, testicular acid phosphatase activity was higher in the left testis than the right, while in varicocele-induced animals, no differences in acid phosphatase activity between left and right testis were observed. In varicocele-created rats, the activity of alkaline phosphatase was higher in the left testis than in the right while no differences in alkaline phosphatase activity between left and right testis in sham-operated rats were observed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)