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Updated: Jul 28, 2026
Noninvasive In Vivo Small Animal MRI and MRS: Basic Experimental Procedures
Published on: October 20, 2009
In vivo 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy for evaluation of testicular function in cryptorchid rats
I Sasagawa1, T Nakada, Y Kubota
1Department of Urology, Yamagata University, School of Medicine, Japan.
Purpose:
To assess in vivo metabolism of rat testicles in experimental cryptorchidism, we used 31P magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy and compared testicular MR spectroscopic parameters with flow cytometric DNA analysis.
Materials And Methods:
In vivo 31P MR spectroscopy and flow cytometric DNA analysis of rat testis were performed before and during 14 days of experimental cryptorchidism.
Results:
The testicular phosphomonoester (PM)/ATP ratio showed a transient increase when multinuclear giant cells appeared in the seminiferous tubules. However, the ratio returned to the preoperative level when these cells disappeared. The phosphodiester (PD)/ATP ratio gradually decreased and the inorganic phosphate (Pi)/ATP ratio slowly increased. DNA flow cytometry showed a decrease in the percentage of haploid cells and an increase in the percentage of diploid cells from 7 days after cryptorchidism. The percentage of tetraploid cells did not change before and during cryptorchidism.
Conclusion:
This study indicates that in vivo 31P MR spectroscopy in combination with flow cytometric DNA analysis provides useful biochemical and histological information for evaluation of testicular function.
