Mast cells in testicular biopsies of azoospermic men

This work aimed at identifying mast cells in testicular biopsies from 10 normal fertile controls, 20 patients with obstructive azoospermia and 70 patients with nonobstructive azoospermia. The biopsies were stained with haematoxylin and eosin stain for tubular-modified Johnson score and with toluidine blue stain for mast cells. Two populations of mast cells, peritubular and interstitial, were demonstrated in all sections with varied counts. Testicular sections with Sertoli cell only and spermatogenic arrest patterns demonstrated a significant increase in both peritubular and interstitial mast cells compared with other groups, whereas obstructive azoospermia demonstrated a nonsignificant increase compared with the controls. Mast cell count was significantly correlated negatively with Johnson score for both peritubular (P = 0.001) and interstitial (P = 0.001) populations. Whether these results could be a cause or an effect, a special role might be assigned to mast cells in the pathogenesis of disturbed spermatogenesis.