Responses to vasectomy performed at different ages in the rat.

The weights of the liver, heart and kidneys were not influenced by vasectomy at any age whereas rats vasectomized at 50 weeks gained appreciably more (30%) in body weight than their corresponding controls. Significant atrophy of the ventral prostate occurred only in the older group of vasectomized animals but this was accompanied by slight increased in circulating testosterone. Pituitary weight was unaffected by vasectomy, but slight atrophy of the testes in the 50 week old vasectomized rats might suggest the beginnings of decline in gonadal function after vasectomy in the older animals. In addition, the accumulation of lipids in the blood and heart tissue of rats vasectomized at 50 weeks of age indicates that the older animals may be more susceptible to the effects of the surgery than their younger counterparts. There were no marked changes in fasting blood glucose and significant elevation in glucocorticoid status after vasectomy in 10 week old rats was not manifest in the older groups of animals.