Abstract
This study was desinged to elucidate the hemodynamic and energetic changes of testicles in experimental varicocele. Partial ligation of the left renal vein was performed in 10 Sprague-Dawley rats to induce dilatation of the internal spermatic vein, and sham operation was performed in the other 10 age-matched Sprague-Dawley rats used as controls. Blood pressure and rectal temperature were maintained at a constant level. Testicular blood flow was detected by laser Doppler flowmeter on the day before surgery and 4 weeks after surgery, respectively. Concentrations of various adenine nucleotides were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). We found a significant decrease from 10.2 ± 1.5 to 7.4 ± 1.8 ml(LD)/min/100 g (p < 0.005) in testicular blood flow after inducing varicocele in the rats. The energy charge of adenine nucleotides of the varicocele-bearing rats was 0.62 ± 0.07 which was significantly lower than the 0.73 ± 0.02 of the control group (p < 0.005). These observations have, thus, led us to propose the hypothesis that impaired spermatogenesis may result from defective energy metabolism in the varicocele-bearing testicles of rats.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 71-75 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | European Urology |
| Volume | 25 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1993 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Blood flow
- Energy charge
- Laser Doppler flowmeter
- Spermatogenesis
- Testicle
- Varicocele