Fine structural studies of the rat vas deferens

A fine structural study of the normal rat vas deferens was undertaken utilizing perfusion fixation. Morphological features not previously appreciated were revealed using this technique of fixation, and included the following. The rat vas deferens exhibited a gross morphological and microscopic differentiation along its length: A proximal segment was characterized by a thin muscular wall, an epithelium of low height (comparable to that of the cauda epididymidis) and a distended lumen typically filled with an accumulation of sperm; a distal segment exhibited a thick muscular wall, a convoluted mucosa, and a pseudostratified columnar epithelium with long stereocilia extending into the lumen. The transition from the morphology typical of the proximal segment to that of the distal segment was gradual and progressive, marked by an increase in the mass of the muscular wall and in the height and ultrastructural complexity of the epithelium. Clear or "foamy" cells, characteristic of the cauda epididymidis, were observed in the initial centimeter of the vas deferens. Also, a cell type designated as "mitochondrion-rich" was observed in the distal vas segment. The structure of the small mitochondria in such cells, however, did not conform to the description of mitochondria in similar cells found in the human (Hoffer, '76). Intraepithelial macrophages containing residual accumulations which often resembled spermatozoan remnants in advanced stages of dissolution were present in all segments of the rat vas deferens, confirming in this species a spermiophagic role for such cells.