MORPHOLOGICAL STUDIES OF RAT SEMINAL VESICLES

Castration and Androgenic Hormone Treatment

Abstract

Wistar male rats were divided into 4 groups.
I. castrated rats.
II. normal rats.
III. rats treated every other day with intramuscular injections of 2mg of testosterone propionate after castration.
IV. rats treated every other day with intramuscular injections of 0.5mg of testosterone propionate after castration.
Every two rats from each group have been sacrificed and the weight of seminal vesicles from sacrificed animals were measured biweekly for 4 months, and those seminal vesicles were also studied with the light and electron microscopes. The weight of the seminal vesicles from castrated rats decreased rapidly during the first 7 weeks, and thereafter remarkable change was not observed. On the contrary, the weight of the seminal vesicles from the testosteron propionate treated rats increased first rapidly and then slowly.
With increasing amount of testosterore propionate, the weight also increased proportionately. After castration, there was a general involution of the organs with macroscopic atrophy and reduced amount of secretory material, and ultrastructualy the epithelial cells, the smooth muscle cells contained less organelles as compared with the controls. On the other hand, with testosterone propinate therapy, the growth and secretory activity in epithelial cells of the seminal vesicles more increased than the controls, and ultrastructualy the epithelial cells, the smooth muscle cells and the fibroblasts contained more organelles than in the controls, and protein like materials were observed in and out of smooth muscle cells.