A light microscopic and morphometric analysis of the Sertoli cell during the spermatogenic cycle of the rat

Testes from 8 adult rats were perfusion-fixed with buffered glutaraldehyde and semi-thin sections of the seminiferous epithelium at all stages of the spermatogenic cycle were subjected to morphometric analysis at the light microscope level. Methods are presented to derive the volume occupied by the Sertoli cells within the total volume of the seminiferous epithelium at each stage of the cycle for a single testis. The total number of Sertoli cells present in each stage for the whole testis was calculated from a measurement of Sertoli cell numerical density and the total volume of the seminiferous tubule in the testis at each stage of the cycle. Average volume of a single Sertoli cell for each stage was derived by dividing the first set of data by the latter data. Average Sertoli cell volume exhibited a cyclic variation in relation to the stages of the spermatogenic cycle. Sertoli cells were smallest during stages VI-VIII (5300-5500 micron3) increased to maximum volume during stages XII-XIV (7700-8000 micron3) and thereafter during stages I-V, gradually contracted in volume to complete the cycle. Stage-dependent cyclic variations in Sertoli cell volume offers evidence that the morphology of the Sertoli cell undergoes structural modifications to accommodate changes in the shape and volume of the developing germ cells. Furthermore these volume changes implicate the Sertoli cells in cyclic metabolic, absorptive and secretory functions which possibly direct the maturation of germ cells during the spermatogenic cycle.