HISTOLOGIA TESTICULAR HUMANA COMPARADA, ADULTO JOVEN Y SENIL

in general, sperm production decreases with advanced age in men. therefore the present work compares the histology and cellularity of aging human testis with that of a young adult. gonads from three patients 69 years old and testis from a young subject (aged 25 years) were examined after histological standard techniques (pas-haematoxyline). histological, morphometric and cell counting analyses of testicular sections revealed that the seminiferous tubules of senile patients were of smaller diameter, with lower seminiferous epithelium, incomplete germ cell line and vacuolization of the epithelium. sertoli cells showed a market quantitative decrease, similar to the spermatogonial and primary spermatocyte population. it is possible to postulated that in the senile individues there is a programmed damage of seminiferous epithelial cells that may result in lowered sperm production