CHANGES IN THE MORPHOSTRUCTURE OF ANIMALS’ TESTES OF THE PERIOD OF PRONOUNCED SENILE CHANGES AT IMMUNOSUPPRESSION

Aim. The aim was to study the morphological characteristics of the testes of experimental animals during the period of pronounced senile changes at artificial suppression of the immune system.

Materials and methods. The study was carried out on 60 white rats with pronounced senile changes. Immunosuppression was modeled by cyclophosphamide at a dosage of 1.5 mg/kg body weight intramuscularly for 10 days. The rats were taken out from the experiment under ether anesthesia at 1, 7, 15, 30 and 60 days after discontinuation of the drug administration. The organs were weighed, the relative mass was calculated, the linear dimensions were determined, the volume of the organ was calculated from the volume formula of the ellipsoid. The larger and smaller diameters, the area of the convoluted seminiferous tubule, the height and the area of the epitheliospermatogenous layer were measured, the spermatogenesis index was calculated, the amount of the sustentocytes and interstitial endocrinocytes, and the volume of their nuclei were determined.

Results. Statistically significant differences in the data were established on the 15th and 30th days of the observation, whereas on the 1st, 7th and 60th days there were no significant differences. The conclusion. In response to long-term immunosuppression, there is an active reaction from the testes of the animals during the period of pronounced senile changes. Statistically significant differences in the organometric parameters are due to the direct cytotoxic effect of cyclophosphamide on rapidly dividing organ cells and systemic hormonal imbalance. The data of micromorphometric examination, as well as cytometry and kariometry, confirm the results of organometry and are explained by the disregulation of local immune and endocrine homeostasis of testes after prolonged immunosuppression.