Gross and Microscopic Findings of the testes Ascended into Abdomen during Neonatal and prepubertal Age in Rats

Purpose: Because cryptorchid testes are known to undergo histopathologic changes affecting development, maturation, and fertility, early surgical correction is usually recommended. However there are differing opinions concerning whether retractile testes are affected by similar changes and also whether there is a need for surgical treatment. We aimed to assess the histopathologic changes in retractile testis by studying the changes in testes artificially placed back in the abdomen after they have descended to scrotum in experimental rat models.Materials & Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 3 groups; a control group (controls), prepubertal ascent group (P) in which testis were placed back intraabdominally by bilateral inguinal canal obstruction at 6 weeks, a neonatal group (N) in which intraabdominal testis was induced by bilateral inguinal canal obstruction at birth. The relative weight of the testis, morphology of the seminiferous tubules including Leydig cells, tubular degeneration phase (TDP), spermatogonia per tubules (S/T), and Sertoli cell index (SCI) of these three groups were analyzed and compared.Results: The relative weight of testis was significantly decreased in the group of N (0.0016± 0.001) and P (0.0015±0.0002) compared to controls (0.0037±0.0002)(P