Mast cells and idiopathic male infertility

Eighty-three testicular biopsies, done for evaluation of oligozoospermia and azoospermia, were reviewed. Biopsies from eight healthy fertile males served as control. Johnsen's scoring was used for the staging of spermatogenesis. The number of mast cells was counted in a 1-mm2 area to study the relationship of spermatogenesis and mast cell proliferation. An impairment of spermatogenesis was noticed as the mast cell density increased. When the Johnsen score ranged between 1 and 4, mast cells were 24 to 112, with a mean of 57.7 cells/mm2. This value was highly significant when compared with control cases (P less than .001).