Testis stereology

Abstract

The male reproductive system includes the testes, special ducts, secretory glands, and penis. The human testes appear as a pair of oval-shaped organs. These are located in a sac known as the scrotum, located behind the penis and in front of the anus. The testis has two main functions, sperm production performed in morphologically different compartments, and synthesis of steroid hormones such as testosterone, important for male reproductive physiology. Sperms are located and produced in the wall of the seminiferous tubules, which are embedded in the testicular connective tissue bulge. The structure and quantitative properties of the testis may change in line with various embryological, environmental, and pathological events, and these changes directly affect the performance of the male reproductive system. The effects of different conditions or treatments on testicular morphology can be determined in a qualitative manner. Designbased stereological methods provide quantitative morphological data concerning the morphometric features of the testis. Volumetric values elicited from the testes, seminiferous tubules, interstitial tissue, and germinal epithelium, numbers in the different cell groups, and the diameter of the tubules or thickness of the basal membrane can be easily determined from light and electron microscopic testis sections using these methods. The purpose of this chapter is to provide basic information about the general structure of the testis and how it can be stereologically evaluated. © 2024 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.