The Ability of the Rat Epididymis to Concentrate Spermatozoa Responsiveness to Aldosterone

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Abstract
Experiments have been performed to determine if aldosterone is involved in the control of water reabsorption from the epididymal lumen in vivo. Micropuncture samples of lumen content were collected from the epididymides of control rats and those receiving adrenalectomy, adrenalectomy + 25 μg aldosterone/day, 10 mg spironolactone/kg body weight/day, 10 mg spironolactone + 1 mg testosterone/kg body weight/day, 5 mg desoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCAV day, 50 μg aldosterone/day, or 0.1 ml vehicle alone. The treatment period was three days. Seminal vesicles weights and testis weights were obtained. Sperm concentrations (SEM) in the caput, corpus, and cauda epididymidis of normal rats were 0.75 ± 0.05, 1.24 ± 0.13, and 1.99 ± 0.15 ± 109 sperm/ml, respectively. Both inhibition and removal of aldosterone caused significant reduction (P < .01) of intraluminal sperm concentrations. Sham treatment had no effect. Sperm concentrations were normal in animals receiving aldrenalectomy plus aldosterone replacement. It is concluded that water resorption in the rat epididymis is responsive to aldosterone.