Pathology of the testis and epididymis in the late phase of experimental Chagas's disease

Abstract
The present investigation was undertaken to study changes in the testis and epididymis in the late phase of experimental Trypanosoma cruzi infection in guinea pigs. Testicular and epididymal atrophy were observed in infected animals. Histopathological alterations were observed in the seminiferous epithelium, involving inhibition of the process of spermatogenesis beyond certain stages (kinetic data) and morphological changes mainly in the primary spermatocytes. In the testis the disturbances were restricted to focal areas. The epididymis of infected animals showed marked tubular atrophy and the contents of the epididymal tubules closely reflected the state of the seminiferous epithelium. A marked diminution of ganglion cells in the juxtaprostatic pelvic autonomic ganglia of experimentally infected guinea pigs could be displayed by quantitative studies of serial sections. Application of the osmic acid-zinc iodide technic allowed observations on the autonomic fibers and their endings in the epididymis. Degenerative lesions in the fibers, ascribable to the destruction of neurons in the juxtaprostatic ganglion, were observed in infected animals. Our experimental results were consistent with the hypothesis that the destruction of nerve cells in the juxtaprostatic pelvic autonomic ganglion is the main factor in the pathological changes, which may be classified as “post-chagasic orchiopathy and epididymopathy.”

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