Abstract
Morphologic damage of the adult guinea pig testis can be induced by the single intracutaneous injection of homologous testes extract plus complete Freund adjuvants(1–3). The characteristic feature of this phenomenon is sloughing of the germinal epithelium so extensive as to result in complete aspermatogenesis. Vacuolization of spermatogonia, pycnosis of germ cell nuclei, appearance of multinucleated cells and cytoplasmic vacuolization of Sertoli cells have been related morphologic findings; no influence on the Leydig cells has been observed. That this reaction is due to an immunologic mechanism has been amply demonstrated. Various authors have reported the presence of circulating antibodies (1), delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity(1) and effectiveness of passive transfer by white cells from sensitized donors(4). Attempts have been made to characterize chemically the antigen responsible for the induced aspermatogenesis. Since the initial work of Freund(1) attention has been focused upon the carbohydrate rich achrosome and it has been known that polysaccharide fractions of testicular extracts are active. Other sperm antigens have been identified including hyaluronidase, a nucleic acid containing substance and at least one unidentified protein. According to Katsh, both the polysaccharide and the nucleic acid antigen are capable of inducing aspermatogenesis(5). It should be mentioned, however, that no claims of absolute purity have been made for these various fractions. Although attempts have been made to localize the cellular depots of active antigen this problem requires clarification and this work deals with this aspect of immunologically induced aspermatogenesis.
Material and methods. Testes removed from normal adult guinea pigs were homogenized with volumes of saline equal to the weight of the testes and the homogenate emulsified in an equal amount of complete Freund adjuvant. The experimental group consisted of 26 adult male guinea pigs (lot No. 1).
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