VASECTOMY: LONG-TERM EFFECTS IN THE RHESUS MONKEY

NANCY J. ALEXANDER

doi:10.1530/jrf.0.0310399

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VASECTOMY: LONG-TERM EFFECTS IN THE RHESUS MONKEY

in Reproduction

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NANCY J. ALEXANDER

NANCY J. ALEXANDER
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DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1530/jrf.0.0310399

Volume/Issue:: Volume 31: Issue 3

Page Range:: 399–406

Article Type:: Research Article

Online Publication Date:: Dec 1972

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Summary.

Long-term vasectomy of rhesus monkeys causes many morphological and functional changes in the epididymis, particularly in the ductuli efferentes. In intact animals, the epithelium of the ductuli efferentes consists of about equal numbers of ciliated and non-ciliated cells. Normally, in their apical portions, the ciliated cells contain lipid complexes associated with mitochondria. Spermatozoa are less frequently found in the lumen of the ductuli but are packed together and stored in large numbers in the caudal portion of the epididymis. In vasectomized animals, the ductuli enlarge as much as four times in diameter, and the epithelial basal lamina (normally 500 to 700 Å) thickens considerably (up to 3·2 μm). The number of ciliated cells is greatly reduced and in those remaining, the characteristic lipid complexes are absent. Spermatozoa become agglutinated in the lumen of the ductuli where they are ingested by macrophages. Fluorescein-labelled antibody and electron microscopy show the thickened basal lamina to be in the site of antigen-antibody complexing. It is postulated that long-term vasectomy results in an autoimmune response to spermatozoa that may aid in the disposal of the many spermatozoa still being produced by the testes but lacking an exit passage.

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