Numerous reports showed that transabdominal testicular descent abnormalities in rodent fetuses are induced by exposure to DES, and the INSL3/LGR8 system is considered an important pathway in transabdominal testicular descent
2004 Study Abstract
AIM
To study the effect of prenatal exposure to diethylstilbestrol (DES) and the role of actin and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) on testicular gubernaculum development in fetal male Kunming mice.
METHODS
Pregnant mice were randomly assigned to 6 groups and injected with DES subcutaneously from gestational day 9 (E9) to day 17 (E17) at doses of 0, 25, 50, 100, 200 microg.kg-1.d-1 in 0.2 mL dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). On E17 they were sacrificed and fetuses quickly removed for fixation. Male fetuses were sliced on serial coronal plane. Histological changes were observed under the light microscope (LM) and ultrastructural changes with the scanning and transmission electron microscopes (SEM and TEM). The expression intensity of actin and PCNA in the gubernacula was quantitated by immunohistochemistry.
RESULTS
The mortality of the fetuses was higher in the DES-treated groups than that in the DMSO and saline controls (P<0.05). Under LM the gubernacula were seen to be poorly developed with smaller bulbs. On SEM the bulbs lose the clear demarcation between the mesenchymal inner core and the muscular outer layer and looked like a small cone instead of the normal cylindrical appearance. On TEM there were some smaller disordered myofibrils and sparse cytoplasmic organelles in the gubernacular muscular cells of the treated groups. The expression intensity of actin and PCNA in the gubernacula was significantly weaker in the treated groups than that in the DMSO and saline controls (P<0.05).
CONCLUSION
DES induces underdevelopment of the gubernacula in a dose-dependent manner in fetal male mice and down regulates the actin and PCNA expression.
Sources
- Effect of prenatal exposure to diethylstilbestrol on gubernacular development in fetal male mice, Asian journal of andrology, NCBI PubMed, PMID: 15546024, 2004 Dec.
DES DIETHYLSTILBESTROL RESOURCES
- Source DES and cryptorchidism studies, DES and hypospadias studies.
- Diethylstilbestrol DES studies listed by topics and date of publication.