Methodological Aspects of Testicular Blood Flow Measurements in Rats

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Abstract
3 techniques for the measurement of testicular blood flow in anesthetized adult rats were compared. Direct measurement of testicular venous outflow yielded values more than 3 times lower than those obtained by Xe‐133 clearance and radioactive microsphere techniques due to the surgical procedures involved in spermatic venous cannulation. There was an agreement between flow values obtained with Xe‐133 clearance (17.8 ± 3.5 ml/100 g×min) and radioactive microspheres (19.9 ± 5.5 ml/100 g×min). A homogeneous distribution of microspheres to different segments of the testis indicates that Xe‐133 clearance is an adequate technique for testicular blood flow measurements. However, for some experimental purposes the radioactive microsphere technique is more versatile than Xe‐133 clearance because of its capacity of measuring several organ flows simultaneously.