Morphological study on pigmented cells in the horse testis.
One of the most attractive characteristics of a horse testis is the change of the weight during development. As the testicular weight changes and the number of Leydig cells decreases, pigments appear in interstitial tissues. In the present study, the characteristics of the pigments found in the interstitial tissues were examined histochemically and ultrastructurally. Specific stainings indicated that the pigmented granules showed almost all of the histological and histochemical characteristics of ceroid or ceroid-like pigment. The cells showed positive reaction for acid phosphatase while the pigmented cells contained a lot of lysosomes ultrastructurally. These results suggest that macrophages might phagocytize Leydig cells, and store their digested materials as ceroid-like pigment.
Murabayashi
H
H
Department of Veterinary Anatomy, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido, Japan.
Hondo
E
E
Kitamura
N
N
Furuoka
H
H
Taguchi
K
K
Nambo
Y
Y
Yamada
J
J
D000818:Animals; D001391:Azo Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D002369:Castration / Q000662:veterinary; D002566:Ceroid / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D017608:Chromium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D004801:Eosine Yellowish-(YS) / Q000737:chemistry; D005333:Fetus; D006416:Hematoxylin / Q000737:chemistry; D006736:Horses / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron / Q000662:veterinary; D009281:Naphthalenes; D010078:Oxazines / Q000737:chemistry; D010503:Periodic Acid-Schiff Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D017680:Potassium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D012394:Rosaniline Dyes / Q000737:chemistry; D013431:Sulfates / Q000737:chemistry; D013737:Testis / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure
D001391:Azo Compounds; D002566:Ceroid; D017608:Chromium Compounds; D004396:Coloring Agents; D009281:Naphthalenes; D010078:Oxazines; D017680:Potassium Compounds; D012394:Rosaniline Dyes; D013431:Sulfates; C005095:malachite green; C008619:Nile Blue; C020720:chrome alum; C016118:Sudan Black B; C033006:sudan III; D004801:Eosine Yellowish-(YS); D006416:Hematoxylin