The effect of needle biopsy procedure on prepubertal rat testis

Testicular needle biopsies were performed in 20 prepubertal rats. Ten rats were used as a control group. Spermatohistogenesis was observed in the tubuli (mean number: 17) of each biopsy. The biopsy procedure caused tubular damage which extended to 0.2-4% of the entire testicular volume. Twenty percent of the rats had severe unilateral testicular atrophy at the site of the procedure. A significant compensatory tubular hypertrophy occurred in the contralateral testis that was observed 50 days after the procedure. Eighty percent of the rats produced the normal number of offspring, independent of the occurrence of unilateral testicular atrophy. The histology of the contralateral testis was normal in all animals; thus, no adverse effect from the biopsied testis occurred.