A histochemical study on the effects of photoperiod on gonadal and adrenal function in the male bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus)

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Abstract
NADH- and NADPH-diaphorases, 3.alpha., .DELTA.5-3.beta.-, 11.beta.- and 17.beta.-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases (HSD) and lipids were studied histochemically in the testes and adrenals of male bank voles kept in a long (16L[light h]:8D [dark h]) or a short (8L:16D) photoperiod (groups L and S, respectively). At 67 days of age the group L males were heavier and had active and significantly larger testes than group S males. The testes of group S males were regressed and were also significantly smaller than those of 18 day old animals born and reared in a 18L:6D photoperiod. Lipid droplets were detected in the Leydig cells and intratubular spaces in the testes of group L animals, but were absent from those of group S voles. The adrenal cortex of the group L animals was virtually devoid of lipids, but large lipid inclusions were present in the basal zona fasciculata of the group S voles. In the group L testes the diaphorase activities were more intense and all the difference in enzymic activity between the seminiferous epithelium and the Leydig cells was more pronounced (especially for NADH-diaphorase) than that in the testes of group S animals. The 3.alpha.- and .delta.5-3.beta.-HSD activities were much stronger in the testes of sexually active animals; 17.beta.-HSD activity was present in the Leydig cells of the active testes, and absent in the regressed testes. There was no marked difference between the 2 groups of animals with regard to the distribution or intensity of diaphorases, 3.alpha.-, .DELTA.5-3.beta.-, 11.beta.- or 17.beta.-HSD in the adrenal cortex. A decline in steroid synthesis occurred in the testes of voles kept in a short photoperiod. The large lipid inclusions observed in the adrenal cortex of such animals suggest decreased corticosteroid synthesis and/or secretion.

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