The evaluation of sympathetic system-related contractile activity of the rat vas deferens after ligation and intra-abdominal placement of the testis.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the contractile response of the vas deferens in a model of stress, to determine any changes in sympathetic activity as a result of stress in the ipsilateral testis, which decreases blood flow to the contralateral testis.


METHODS
The study comprised two groups of six rats each; group 1 underwent a sham operation, and in group 2 the right testis was placed into the abdominal cavity and the vas deferens ligated. After 30 days, the vasa deferentia were resected bilaterally and their isometric contractions recorded. Electrical-field stimulation (EFS) was applied through a pair of platinum electrodes and concentration-response curves constructed for noradrenaline at 37 degrees C and to a solution containing 80 mmol/L K+.


RESULTS
The vasa deferentia in both groups showed similar contractile responses to EFS, which were frequency-dependent and maximal at 80 Hz. Noradrenaline-induced contractile activity was lower in amplitude in the vasa deferentia of group 2 than in the contralateral and ipsilateral vasa deferentia of group 1, which were not significantly different from each other. All groups responded similarly to high K+.


CONCLUSIONS
Intra-abdominal placement of the testes with vas deferens ligation decreased the contractile response to noradrenaline in the ipsilateral vas deferens without altering the contractile response to EFS and high K+. This difference could be caused by a reduction in the number of postjunctional alpha-adrenergic receptors or decreased receptor sensitivity. Both possibilities suggest that the vas deferens may initiate sympathetic activity, which may be responsible for contralateral testicular deterioration.
Türken
A
A
Department of Paediatric Surgery, Hacettepe University, Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
Yenisehirli
A
A
Onur
R
R
Tanyel
F C
FC
D000005:Abdomen; D000818:Animals; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D008026:Ligation; D008297:Male; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000502:physiology*; D013737:Testis / Q000637:transplantation; D014649:Vas Deferens / Q000294:innervation / Q000502:physiology*
D009638:Norepinephrine