Effect of experimental torsion of the spermatic cord on sustentacular cells in the guinea-pig testis.

Torsion of the spermatic cord is not an extremely rare occurrence among prepubertal and adolescent boys. Although it is known that torsion of the spermatic cord may lead to germ cell degeneration in the affected as well as in the contralateral testis, nothing is known regarding the response of sustentacular cells to this condition. During the present investigation, we studied the effect of experimental torsion on the sustentacular cells of guinea pig testes. Light-microscopic examination revealed that, although all types of germ cells, except a few spermatogonia, were degenerated in the guinea pig testes with torsion, sustentacular cells did not degenerate. This observation was confirmed from the quantitation data which indicated that the number of these cells remained unchanged when compared to the control and/or the contralateral testis of the same animal with unilateral torsion. Therefore, sustentacular cells of the damaged testis from guinea pigs can be used as reference cells for germ cell quantitation. The striking ultrastructural change in the sustentacular cells of damaged testes was characterized by the presence of well-developed annulate lamellae, which was not reported before in any other rodent species. Lobulated nuclei, numerous tight junctional complexes and lysosomes were other characteristic features of the sustentacular cells of damaged testes.