Biomaterial Database

Pubertal genitofemoral nerve division induces testicular ascent in adult rats. 1999

T Shono, and O Zakaria, and T Imajima, and S Suita, and K Morimoto

Department of Pediatric Surgery, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.

OBJECTIVE Ascending testes, which normally are located at the bottom of the scrotum in early infancy and later ascend back out of the scrotum, have been reported by several investigators. However, little is known about the effect of the division of the genitofemoral nerve (GFN) on testicular ascent as boys grow. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the division of the proximal genitofemoral nerve in prepubertal rats induces testicular ascent in adulthood. METHODS Thirty-day-old Wistar King A Rats (n = 27) underwent a unilateral proximal GFN transection on either the right or left side. At 150 days of age, the rats were killed, and their testicular position was examined. The length of the processus vaginalis was measured, and the testes were removed and weighed. Sham-operated rats were used as controls (n = 10). Student's t and the chi2 test were used for the statistical analysis. RESULTS At 150 days of age, 21 of the 27 operated rats (77.8%) showed unilateral testicular ascent on the operated side. All testes were located at the bottom of the scrotum in sham-operated control rats (20 testes). Both the length of the processus vaginalis and the testicular weight were decreased significantly more on the operated side than in the sham-operated rats. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that the proximal division of the genitofemoral nerve in prepubertal rats may induce a relative ascent of the testis by preventing the growth of the processus vaginalis in adulthood. In patients with such ascending testes, an abnormal development or accidental trauma of the genitofemoral nerve may be involved in testicular ascent.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D009929	Organ Size	The measurement of an organ in volume, mass, or heaviness.	Organ Volume,Organ Weight,Size, Organ,Weight, Organ
D010525	Peripheral Nerves	The nerves outside of the brain and spinal cord, including the autonomic, cranial, and spinal nerves. Peripheral nerves contain non-neuronal cells and connective tissue as well as axons. The connective tissue layers include, from the outside to the inside, the epineurium, the perineurium, and the endoneurium.	Endoneurium,Epineurium,Perineurium,Endoneuriums,Epineuriums,Nerve, Peripheral,Nerves, Peripheral,Perineuriums,Peripheral Nerve
D003456	Cryptorchidism	A developmental defect in which a TESTIS or both TESTES failed to descend from high in the ABDOMEN to the bottom of the SCROTUM. Testicular descent is essential to normal SPERMATOGENESIS which requires temperature lower than the BODY TEMPERATURE. Cryptorchidism can be subclassified by the location of the maldescended testis.	Testis, Undescended,Abdominal Cryptorchidism,Bilateral Cryptorchidism,Cryptorchidism, Unilateral Or Bilateral,Cryptorchism,Inguinal Cryptorchidism,Testes, Undescended,Undescended Testis,Unilateral Cryptorchidism,Cryptorchidism, Abdominal,Cryptorchidism, Bilateral,Cryptorchidism, Inguinal,Cryptorchidism, Unilateral,Undescended Testes
D005267	Femoral Nerve	A nerve originating in the lumbar spinal cord (usually L2 to L4) and traveling through the lumbar plexus to provide motor innervation to extensors of the thigh and sensory innervation to parts of the thigh, lower leg, and foot, and to the hip and knee joints.	Femoral Nerves,Nerve, Femoral,Nerves, Femoral
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D013737	Testis	The male gonad containing two functional parts: the SEMINIFEROUS TUBULES for the production and transport of male germ cells (SPERMATOGENESIS) and the interstitial compartment containing LEYDIG CELLS that produce ANDROGENS.	Testicles,Testes,Testicle
D016009	Chi-Square Distribution	A distribution in which a variable is distributed like the sum of the squares of any given independent random variable, each of which has a normal distribution with mean of zero and variance of one. The chi-square test is a statistical test based on comparison of a test statistic to a chi-square distribution. The oldest of these tests are used to detect whether two or more population distributions differ from one another.	Chi-Square Test,Chi Square Distribution,Chi Square Test,Chi-Square Distributions,Chi-Square Tests,Distribution, Chi-Square,Distributions, Chi-Square,Test, Chi-Square,Tests, Chi-Square
D017208	Rats, Wistar	A strain of albino rat developed at the Wistar Institute that has spread widely at other institutions. This has markedly diluted the original strain.	Wistar Rat,Rat, Wistar,Wistar Rats
D051381	Rats	The common name for the genus Rattus.	Rattus,Rats, Laboratory,Rats, Norway,Rattus norvegicus,Laboratory Rat,Laboratory Rats,Norway Rat,Norway Rats,Rat,Rat, Laboratory,Rat, Norway,norvegicus, Rattus