[Classification of the germinal epithelium in Java monkeys (Macaca cynomolgus) using digital image processing]

TY - JOUR

T1 - [Classification of the germinal epithelium in Java monkeys (Macaca cynomolgus) using digital image processing]

AU - Dietrich, T

AU - Schulze, Wolfgang

AU - Riemer, Martin

PY - 1986

Y1 - 1986

N2 - Testicular tissue of two adult crab-eating macaques was used to investigate the distribution of the spermatids in the seminiferous tubules. For this purpose, morphological criteria for distinction among the various degrees of development of these cells were elaborated. Subsequently, based upon analyses of serial sections, three-dimensional reconstructions of the cellular distribution pattern were generated by means of digital image processing. In these reconstructions it became evident that the spatial extension of a single differentiation stage can vary considerably. Large tubular portions that contained a single differentiation stage alternated with those exhibiting several differentiation stages which occupied only small patch-like areas of the seminiferous epithelium. Particularly in the latter portions of the tubule a helical continuity of subsequent stages in the sense of a wave of spermatogenesis became immediately obvious. Transitory changes in the direction of the wave (modulations) occurred frequently. The present findings support the suggestion that an uniform kinetic principle of mammalian spermatogenesis exists, which is subjected to slight modifications during the evolution of primates.

AB - Testicular tissue of two adult crab-eating macaques was used to investigate the distribution of the spermatids in the seminiferous tubules. For this purpose, morphological criteria for distinction among the various degrees of development of these cells were elaborated. Subsequently, based upon analyses of serial sections, three-dimensional reconstructions of the cellular distribution pattern were generated by means of digital image processing. In these reconstructions it became evident that the spatial extension of a single differentiation stage can vary considerably. Large tubular portions that contained a single differentiation stage alternated with those exhibiting several differentiation stages which occupied only small patch-like areas of the seminiferous epithelium. Particularly in the latter portions of the tubule a helical continuity of subsequent stages in the sense of a wave of spermatogenesis became immediately obvious. Transitory changes in the direction of the wave (modulations) occurred frequently. The present findings support the suggestion that an uniform kinetic principle of mammalian spermatogenesis exists, which is subjected to slight modifications during the evolution of primates.

M3 - SCORING: Zeitschriftenaufsatz

VL - 25

SP - 179

EP - 186

JO - UROLOGE

JF - UROLOGE

SN - 0340-2592

IS - 3

M1 - 3

ER -