Spermatogenic and steroidogenic activity in the testis of the lizard,Calotes versicolor, treated with mammalian gonodatropins and testosterone

Abstract

Abstract Histological and histochemical studies carried out on the male reproductive organs of the lizard, Calotes versicolor, after treating it with Ovine FSH (50 μg), LH (50 μg), FSH + LH (50 μg each) and testosterone (200 μg) on alternate days for 15 days during the regression and regeneration phases of its testicular cycle, showed a significant increase in the testis weight and diameter of the seminiferous tubules. Spermatogenesis was stimulated up to the primary spermatocyte stage during the regression phase, while it was up to the secondary spermatocyte stage during the regeneration phase following gonadotropin treatment, either singly or in combination. The nuclear diameters of Leydig and Sertoli cells, the tubule diameter and epithelial height of the epididymis and renal sexual segment, were markedly increased after the gonadotropin treatment during both phases. Increased activities of Δ5–3β-HSDH, 17β-HSDH, G-6-PDH enzymes with concomitant decrease in the sudanophilic lipids and biochemically estimated total cholesterol were noticed in all the gonadotropin-treated groups during both phases. These results indicate that mammalian gonadotropins at the given dose level stimulate spermatogenic and steroidogenic functions of the testis in this lizard, and that they do not act synergistically.