Study of Testicular Structure in Fetuses with Prune Belly Syndrome Article Swipe

Purpose . To compare the structure of the testis in fetuses with prune belly syndrome (PBS) to normal controls. Materials and Methods . We studied 6 testes obtained from 3 fetuses with PBS and 14 testes from 7 male fetuses. The testicular specimens were cut into 5- μ m thick sections and stained with hematoxylin and eosin (HE), to observe the seminiferous tubules; Weigert’s solution to observe elastic fibers; and picrosirius red to observe collagen. The images were captured with an Olympus BX51 microscope and Olympus DP70 camera. The stereological analysis was done with the Image Pro and Image J programs. Means were statistically compared using the Mann–Whitney<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M1"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>U</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:math>test (<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M2"><mml:mi>p</mml:mi><mml:mo>&lt;</mml:mo><mml:mn fontstyle="italic">0.005</mml:mn></mml:math>). Results . Quantitative analysis documented no differences (<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M3"><mml:mi>p</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn fontstyle="italic">0.4</mml:mn></mml:math>) in number of seminiferous tubules (ST) in PBS testes (mean = 8.87%,<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M4"><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">S</mml:mi><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">D</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn mathvariant="normal">1.59</mml:mn></mml:math>), when compared to the control (mean = 11.4%,<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M5"><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">S</mml:mi><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">D</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn mathvariant="normal">2.99</mml:mn></mml:math>) and no differences (<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M6"><mml:mi>p</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn fontstyle="italic">0.8</mml:mn></mml:math>) in diameter of ST in PBS testes (mean = 52.85 μ m,<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M7"><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">S</mml:mi><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">D</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn mathvariant="normal">1.58</mml:mn></mml:math>) when compared to the control group (mean = 53.17 μ m,<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M8"><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">S</mml:mi><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">D</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn mathvariant="normal">1.55</mml:mn></mml:math>), but we did observe a lower number (<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M9"><mml:mi>p</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn fontstyle="italic">0.0002</mml:mn></mml:math>) of Leydig cells in the PBS testes (mean = 67.03% and<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M10"><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">S</mml:mi><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">D</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn mathvariant="normal">3.697</mml:mn></mml:math>) when compared to the control group (mean = 90.1% and<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M11"><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">S</mml:mi><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">D</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn mathvariant="normal">2.986</mml:mn></mml:math>). Conclusions . Our study showed a lower concentration of Leydig cells in the triad syndrome fetuses.