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Query: UMLS:C0432222 (SEM)
 47,337 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We obtained the testes, ductuli efferentes, and epididymides from adult rhesus and cynomolgus macaques and examined these tissues for estrogen receptors (ER) with immunocytochemistry (ICC) and a sucrose gradient assay. Both techniques employed monoclonal antibodies prepared against ER, and both showed that high concentrations of ER were present OFFy in the ductuli efferentes. Moreover, all specific staining was confined to the nuclei of the nonciliated, absorptive epithelial cells. The quantity of salt-extractable ER in the ductuli efferentes (834 +/- 161 [SEM] fmol/mg DNA [n = 8]) did not differ significantly from the amounts measured with the identical assay in oviducts and endometrium of estrogenized female macaques. Testes and epididymides of macaques had no specific staining by ICC and barely detectable amounts by biochemical analysis (7 +/- 4 [n = 3], 8 +/- 2 [n = 5], 33 +/- 16 [n = 3], and 6 +/- 3 [n = 8] fmol/mg DNA for testis and caput, corpus, and cauda epididymis, respectively). The functional significance of the high levels of ER in the ductuli efferentes of macaques remains to be determined.
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PMID:Estrogen receptor in the ductuli efferentes, epididymis, and testis of rhesus and cynomolgus macaques. 234 Mar 36

Levels of immunoactive and bioactive inhibin were measured in venous blood collected at a point just before (testicular venous) and after (spermatic venous) its passage through the mediastinal venous plexus over the anterior pole of the rete testis, and compared with levels in peripheral venous blood and testicular interstitial fluid (IF). In 15 control rats, levels of inhibin were highest in IF (8900 +/- 432 ng/l; mean +/- SEM) and lowest in peripheral (290 +/- 32 ng/l) and testicular (288 +/- 34 ng/l) venous blood, whilst levels in spermatic venous blood (633 +/- 99 ng/l) were always higher (P less than 0.002) than the levels in testicular venous blood. The latter difference was either reduced or abolished after disruption of spermatogenesis by local heating of the testes 8, 14, or 21 days previously, and by ligation of the efferent ducts for 6 h or more, but was not affected by acute removal of the epididymis. It is concluded that inhibin secreted into seminiferous tubule fluid may be reabsorbed from the rete testis and this may be the major route by which it reaches the peripheral bloodstream in rats with normal spermatogenesis.
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PMID:The route of secretion of inhibin from the rat testis. 291 61

The origin and mechanism of the secretion of membrane-bound particles in bovine seminal plasma were studied with transmission (TEM) and scanning (SEM) electron microscopy of the epididymis, vas deferens, ampulla, and seminal vesicle of adult bulls. In the SEM study, all these organs were found to contain apical protrusions in the lining of the epithelial cells. Eventually the protrusions became detached and formed secretory bodies within the lumina of these organs. In the epididymis, the TEM study disclosed a granular and rather homogeneous content in the protrusions and bodies, whereas in the vas deferens they contained dilated cisternae of smooth endoplasmic reticulum. In the ampulla and seminal vesicle, the formation of the apical protrusions was associated with an accumulation of membrane-bound vesicles. These vesicles were found to be released from the storage bodies into the secretory fluid of the lumen. Both could be harvested from isolated seminal vesicle secretions by Percoll gradient centrifugation. It was concluded that various parts of the bovine reproductive organs discharge their secretory products at least partly by an apocrine mechanism. The membrane-bound particles in the seminal plasma, however, appear to be mainly derived from the ampulla and seminal vesicle.
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PMID:Electron microscopic study of the secretion process in bovine reproductive organs. 323 78

We have studied the acute effect of hOG and testosterone administration to immature rats, on testicular (particulate fraction and cytosol) and epididymal (cytosol) ABP levels. One and four hours after a single dose of 10 IU hCG/rat, ABP concentration decreased slightly in testicular membranes and cytosol, but increased markedly in epididymal cytosol (169 +/- 5 and 182 +/- 5 at 1 and 4 h respectively, compared to 113 +/- 13 fmoles/mg protein in control animals, mean +/- SEM). Since testicular and epididymal concentrations of testosterone increased after hCG, as expected, the effect might have been mediated by gonadotrophin stimulated testosterone production in Leydig cells. To test this hypothesis, the hCG effect was studied in rats that previously had received aminoglutethimide to block steroidogenesis. Under these conditions, hCG failed to increase epididymal ABP. Finally, administration of testosterone propionate was also able to stimulate epididymal ABP, but with delayed response: the increase was observed 4 h after injection (212 +/- 18 compared to 127 +/- 28 fmoles/mg protein in control animals, mean +/- SEM). It is concluded that the hCG-induced increase of intratesticular androgen levels results in rapid passage of ABP from testis to epididymis.
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PMID:Acute effect of hCG on testicular and epididymal levels of androgen binding protein (ABP) in the immature rat. 360

Epidermal growth factor-like activity (EGF-LA) has been detected in human seminal plasma in concentrations of 5-150 ngeq/ml (36.4 +/- 2.1, mean +/- SEM), using a heterologous RRA with murine EGF. The samples were obtained from normal, subfertile and azoospermic men, aged 21-50 yr. No correlation was found between EGF concentration and age of donor, sperm count, sperm motility, or period of sexual abstinence before sample collection. High performance liquid chromatography of the seminal plasma resulted in a main peak of EGF-LA which eluted at 29% acetonitrile, compared to 33% for murine EGF. Microsomal membranes were prepared from several tissues from the human male reproductive tract and were tested for their ability to bind radioiodinated murine EGF. Specific EGF binding activity was detectable in testicular membrane preparations but was not detectable in membranes prepared from human prostate, seminal vesicle, epididymis, or spermatozoa. Endogenous EGF-LA was detectable in human testis, seminal vesicle, prostate, and epididymis.
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PMID:Identification of epidermal growth factor-like activity in human male reproductive tissues and fluids. 632 31

The plasma membrane of the sperm is a mosaic, with different moieties restricted to specific areas of the head or tail. Some of these heterogeneously distributed surface components are inserted into the membrane during spermatogenesis while others are acquired during post-testicular maturation, as the sperm passes through the epididymis. A variety of surface probes have been used to examine sperm, with lectins and antibodies proving to be effective at relating quantitative and qualitative changes to specific areas of the sperm surface. More recently, monoclonal antibodies have been used in conjunction with surface labeling procedures to study the distribution, time and site of origin and possible roles of sperm components. The use of such highly specific probes in conjunction with high resolution SEM instruments and new molecular labeling techniques offer considerable promise in addressing these problems.
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PMID:Restricted domains of the sperm surface. 676 30

Sperm, testis, prostate, epididymis and uterus have all beeen examined by X-ray microanalysis in the electron microscope. Specimen preparation has included air drying of whole cells, fixation, histochemical treatment, cryoultramicrotomy and freeze substitution of soft tissues, and micropuncture and pipetting of microdroplets from tissue fluids. Early analyses involved the study of thick samples using the electron probe microanalyser (EPMA) with wavelength dispersive spectrometry (WDS). More recently energy dispersive spectrometers (EDS) have been coupled to EMMA, TEM, SEM and STEM instruments to study these tissues. Although spatial resolution and sensitivity of analysis have greatly improved recently, specimen preparation remains a major limitation to the successful analysis of physiological levels of elements in reproductive tissues. A review of comparative methods of analysis and specimen preparation procedures is given for tissues of male and female species.
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PMID:Application of x-ray microanalysis in reproductive physiology. 699 7

This study investigates the short-term as well as long-term effects of low-level X-ray irradiation on the Spermatozoal structure and trace metal (Zn, Fe, Cu, and Cd) contents in the testis and epididymis of whole-body irradiated albino rats. Male rats were exposed to 0.675, 1.350, 2.700, and 4.050 cGy of X-ray intermittently in 45, 90, 180, and 270 equal fractions (each fraction of 0.015 cGy s-1), respectively. SEM study had revealed numerous fusiform swelling in sperm tail in most of the x-irradiated groups. Moreover, in 2.700 and 4.050 cGy dose groups, the tail sheath of several sperm were eroded out. In the TEM study, damage in microtubules of sperm tail in 4.050 cGy irradiated group was noted. The AAS study showed a transient increase in Zn content in 0.675 and 1.350 cGy dose groups, but its concentration was decreased in 2.700 and 4.050 cGy dose groups. Fe concentration was increased in all the cases in comparison to that of control group. Nevertheless, Cu and Cd contents were increased mostly in 2.700 and 4.050 cGy doses. Thus present findings probably throw some light regarding mammalian response threshold at low-level X-ray irradiation. Moreover, it raises questions regarding the validity of "safe dose ionizing radiation."
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PMID:Alteration of spermatozoal structure and trace metal profile of testis and epididymis of rat under chronic low-level X-ray irradiation. 794 21

It has been established in laboratory mammals that sperm motility and fertilizing capacity develop during epididymal transit, but sperm maturation along the human epididymis is less well characterized. Spermatozoa were prepared from 5 regions of 8 epididymides from 8 prostatic carcinoma patients undergoing castration and from 8 epididymal spermatocoeles located adjacent to the head of the epididymides and the testes of 5 patients. Sperm movement was characterized by computer-aided sperm analysis (CASA), and percentage motility was estimated by conventional methods. The efferent ducts and spermatocoeles contained the same percentage of motile spermatozoa with similar kinematics. Percentage motility increased from 22.9 +/- 4.8 (mean +/- SEM) in the efferent ducts to a maximum of 68.3 +/- 7.9 in either the mid- or distal corpus epididymidis and declined in the cauda region. Straight line velocity increased from 20.3 +/- 3.7 microns/sec to reach a plateau value of 44.0 +/- 5.3 microns/sec in the mid-corpus epididymidis; this was more marked than the increase in curvilinear velocity, although the trend was the same. Similar trends in linearity and straightness of the swim paths were not accompanied by any significant changes in the amplitude of lateral head displacement. This objective quantification of sperm movement documents the maturation of sperm motility in the human epididymis, confirming that this maturation pattern is similar to that in other mammals.
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PMID:Changes in movement characteristics of human spermatozoa along the length of the epididymis. 837 50

We have examined the epididymal (caput, corpus and cauda) and ejaculated spermatozoa of bufallo-bull (Bubalus bubalis) employing microscopic and spectroscopic techniques. Fluorescein isothiocyanate conjugated lectins namely concanavalin A (Con A), Dolichos biflorus (DBA), Maclura pomifera (MPA), peanut agglutinin (PNA), soybean agglutinin (SBA) and wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) were used to study the changes in the sperm surface carbohydrate make up as the spermatozoa mature. Quantitative analysis of the lectin binding was made flow cytometrically. 31P-NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectra of the sperms obtained from different regions (head, body and tail) of the epididymis and of the ejaculate were analyzed to assess their metabolic activity. And the kinetics of spin label reduction of these samples was monitored with ESR (electron spin resonance) spectroscopy. These observations are supplemented with the electron microscopic (SEM and TEM) examination of the epididymal and ejaculated spermatozoa.
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PMID:Spectroscopic and microscopic studies of buffalo-bull (Bubalus bubalis) spermatozoa. 838 30


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