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The postnatal development of the rat Leydig cell  

Tae, Hyun-Jin (College of Veterinary Medicine, Chonbuk National University)
Li, Li-Guang (College of Veterinary Medicine, Chonbuk National University)
Park, Byung-Yong (College of Veterinary Medicine, Chonbuk National University)
Park, Young-Jae (College of Veterinary Medicine, Chonbuk National University)
Choi, Eun-Young (College of Veterinary Medicine, Chonbuk National University)
Lee, Young-Hoon (School of Dentistry, Chonbuk National University)
Ahn, Dong-Choon (Department of Veterinary Medicine, Kangwon National University)
Kang, Hyung-Sub (Bio-Safety Research Institute, College of Veterinary Medicine, Chonbuk National University)
Park, Sang-Youel (Bio-Safety Research Institute, College of Veterinary Medicine, Chonbuk National University)
Park, Soo-Hyun (Bio-Safety Research Institute, College of Veterinary Medicine, Chonbuk National University)
Lee, John-Hwa (Bio-Safety Research Institute, College of Veterinary Medicine, Chonbuk National University)
Yang, Hong-Hyun (Bio-Safety Research Institute, College of Veterinary Medicine, Chonbuk National University)
Kim, In-Shik (Bio-Safety Research Institute, College of Veterinary Medicine, Chonbuk National University)
Publication Information
Korean Journal of Veterinary Research / v.43, no.4, 2003 , pp. 531-539 More about this Journal
Abstract
Changes in the rat testis interstitium from birth to adulthood were studied using Sprague Dawley rats of 1, 7, 14, 21, 28, 40, 60, and 90 days of age to investigate Leydig cell differentiation. In addition, serum testosterone concentrations and luteinizing hormone stimulated (LH; 100 ng/ml) testosterone secretory capacity per testis in vitro were determined via radioimmunoassay. Fetal Leydig cells were present in rat testes from birth to 21 days, and they were only steroidogenic cells in the testis at days 1 and 7. The average volume of a fetal Leydig cell and the absolute volume of fetal Leydig cell per testis were similar at all ages of experimental groups except at day 21 when lower values were observed for both parameters. The number of fetal Leydig cells per testis remained constant from birth through 21 days. Adult Leydig cells were recognized at day 14 and their absolute volume and number per testis increased linearly from 14 to 90 days. The average volume of an adult Leydig cell increased significantly with age and reached maximum size by 60 days of age where the volume was nearly three times bigger than that of at day 14. Total testosterone production per testis in vitro and serum testosterone concentrations were not significantly different at day 1 compared with 7, 14, and 21 days of age. Significant increases were observed at days 40 and 60. Values at days 60 and 90 were not significantly different.
Keywords
Rat; Leydig cell; Postnatal development;
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