Long term evaluation of morphometric and ultrastructural changes of testes of alloxan-induced diabetic rats

PURPOSE: To evaluate in a long term the morphometric and ultrastructural changes in seminiferous tubules (ST) of normal and diabetic rats, and to correlate any changes with animal age and diabetes duration. METHODS: Sixty male Wistar rats, three months-old, were randomly divided into two groups: 30 non-diabetic controls (N) and 30 alloxan untreated diabetic (D). After one, six and 12 months of follow-up or diabetes induction rats were sacrificed and the testes examined. Morphometric measures of the ST were performed by digital imaging analysis. ST ultrastructure was analyzed by transmission el...