Investigation of the effects of experimental cryptorchidism formed in prepubertal rats during the postpubertal and adult periods.

OBJECTIVE Investigation of the effects of experimental cryptorchidism formed in prepubertal rats during the postpubertal and adult periods. MATERIAL AND METHODS The abdominal cavities of 20 rats in the control group were just opened and closed without any further surgical procedure. The testicles of 20 rats in the experimental group were fixed to the anterolateral wall of the abdominal cavity under general anesthesia. At the 6th month, blood and testis tissue samples of rats were obtained and the rats were sacrificed and the experiment was terminated. Statistical analysis was done by SPSS 15.0 package software. RESULTS The histopathological evaluation of testicular tissues of rats in the control group was in the normal limits. Of the experimental group, the testicular tissues had injury in nearly half of the rats, in which the testicles were fixed in the abdomen for three months that is the 1st subgroup. FSH levels were statistically significantly elevated in both experimental groups of rats (p<0.01). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION Cryptorchidism formed experimentally causes a partial damage in the testicular tissue of pubertal rats, however the damage increases gradually in the testicles of rats, in which the testicles were descended and left in the scrotum for another three months. The statistically elevated levels of FSH in both experimental groups of rats can be accounted for severe testicular damage. The timing in descending the undescended testicles to the scrotum is essential and should be performed before the puberty and as early as possible in avoiding the risk of infertility (Tab. 3, Fig. 5, Ref. 44).