HISTOCHEMICAL STUDIES ON THE TESTICULAR STROMA, SEMINIFEROUS TUBULES AND THE LEYDIG CELLS IN ASSAM GOATS

The present study was conducted on eighteen male Assam goats of age ranging from day 1/day old to 10 months divided into six post natal age groups viz. group-I (0-day), group-II (2 months), group-III (4 months), group-IV (6 months), group-V (8 months) and group-VI (10 months) consisting of three animals in each group. Tissue pieces were collected from three different regions of the testis viz., upper, middle and lower and subsequently fixed in Bouin's solution. All the tissues were processed for paraffin sections and stained for various stains for demonstration of various histochemical substances viz. McManus method for glycogen, Alcian Blue method at pH 1.0 for acid mucopolysaccaharides, Fuelgen reaction for nucleic acids and Mercuric Bromophenol Blue method for Protein. The connective tissue of the capsule and septula testis was weakly reactive to basic proteins in day-old kids (group-I) and moderately reactive in 2 months old kids (group-II). The nuclei of the spermatogenic cells more particularly of the primary spermatocytes showed a strong reaction for basic proteins which were probably due to their increased activity during meiotic phases of spermatogenesis at 4 to 8 months of age (groups-II to V). The basement membranes of the seminiferous tubules were strongly PAS reactive in dayold kids (group-I), moderate in 2 months old kids (group-II) and weak reaction was seen in the older goats, where as the Sustentacular or Sertoli cells showed a very weak reaction in all the age groups under study. The capsule and septula testes showed a faint reaction for nucleic acids in the male goats in all the age groups. The nuclei of various spermatogenic cells were Fuelgen positive and the intensity of reaction increased with the advancing age of the kids. The connective tissue of the capsule and septula testis showed faint reactions for acid mucopolysaccharides in all the age groups. The Leydig cells were also weakly reactive in the kids up to 2 months of age (group-II), but showed moderate reactions in older kids.