Peng Y I, Chen T J, Lin S H, Tsai H W, Tai M Y, Huang R L, Tsai Y F
Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Republic of China.
Chin J Physiol. 1995;38(1):13-7.
Improvement of copulatory activity has been reported in aged male rats bearing the fetal preoptic area (POA), however, whether the fetal POA graft has any effect on the gonad of aged male rats has not been established. In the present study, the testicular histology and the sexual behavior were studied in 20 old (18-19 months) Long-Evans male rats after fetal brain transplantation. Animals were divided into three groups: (1) POA-grafted group (n = 6): fetal POA neurons were grafted into the POA, (2) COR-grafted group (n = 7): fetal cerebral cortex tissue was grafted into the POA and (3) SHAM-grafted group (n = 7): the POA of rats received glucose-saline injection. Thirty days after the grafting, only those bearing POA graft showed an increase in mount frequency and intromission frequency. Sixty days after fetal brain grafting, testicular morphology was examined. Testicular volume was measured and paraffin sections (8 microns) of the testis were stained with Hematoxylin-Eosin. Seminiferous tubular diameter and epithelial height were analyzed quantitatively. No significant changes in testicular volume, seminiferous tubular diameter and epithelial height were observed in all three groups. The shrunk testicular morphology in the aged male rats cannot be restored by fetal POA grafting. These results suggest that copulatory behavior and testicular morphology may be dissociated in old male rats.
据报道，移植胎儿视前区（POA）的老年雄性大鼠交配活动有所改善，然而，胎儿POA移植对老年雄性大鼠性腺是否有任何影响尚未明确。在本研究中，对20只老龄（18 - 19个月）Long-Evans雄性大鼠进行胎儿脑移植后，研究了其睾丸组织学和性行为。动物被分为三组：（1）POA移植组（n = 6）：将胎儿POA神经元移植到POA；（2）COR移植组（n = 7）：将胎儿大脑皮质组织移植到POA；（3）假移植组（n = 7）：大鼠的POA接受葡萄糖盐水注射。移植后30天，只有那些接受POA移植的大鼠表现出爬跨频率和插入频率增加。胎儿脑移植60天后，检查睾丸形态。测量睾丸体积，取睾丸石蜡切片（8微米）用苏木精 - 伊红染色。对曲细精管直径和上皮高度进行定量分析。三组中睾丸体积、曲细精管直径和上皮高度均未观察到显著变化。胎儿POA移植不能恢复老年雄性大鼠萎缩的睾丸形态。这些结果表明，老年雄性大鼠的交配行为和睾丸形态可能是分离的。
