Pathological changes in the reproductive tract of male rhesus monkeys associated with age and simian AIDS

The pathological changes associated with ageing and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection in groups of immature, adult and ageing Rhesus monkeys were studied. Eighty three per cent (5 of 6) of uninfected ageing animals had hyperplasia of the prostate, 33 per cent (2 of 6) had mild prostatitis and in 66 per cent (4 of 6) there were calcified concretions in the seminal vesicles. The testes were normal and showed active spermatogenesis. In the SIV-infected animals, two types of lesion occurred; the most common, in 81 per cent (18 of 22 monkeys), was the presence of focal lymphoid infiltrations in the epididymis, prostate or seminal vesicles. The other was hypospermatogenesis (23 per cent, 4 of 17) with degeneration of seminiferous tubules. Immunocytochemical staining demonstrated that the lymphoid masses contained approximately equal numbers of B and T lymphocytes, but the majority of diffusely scattered cells were T lymphocytes. Staining for SIV antigen identified small numbers of positive lymphocytes and macrophages in all tissues.