[Testosterone levels in testicular and epididymal tissue during histopathologic changes in the testes in bulls].
A total of 42 sexual organs of bulls were used to study the relationship between the level of testosterone and the effect of histopathological changes. Genital organs were obtained immediately after slaughter at the Brno abbatoir. Bulls were 14 to 20 months of age and weighed 450 to 650 kg, they were of the Czech Pied, Black and White breeds and their crossbreds. After an assessment of testosterone contents in testicular and epididymal tissues and microscopic examination of organs the concentration of testosterone determined according to the histopathological findings were (Tab. I) as follows. The mean content of testosterone in testicular homogenates was 38.96 +/- 47.0 ng/g. The values for the head, corpus and cauda regions of the epididymal tissue were 5.7 +/- 4.7, 5.3 +/- 5.1 and 3.2 +/- 3.5 ng/g tissue, respectively. The mean level of testosterone in testicular homogenates in the group without histopathological changes of the spermatogenic epithelium was 9.2 +/- 6.77; 5.26 +/- 4.2. In this group the concentration of 5.3 +/- 4.2 from the head 5.4 +/- 5.3 from the corpus and 3.23 +/- 3.26 ng/g tissue were revealed in the cauda of the epididymis. In the group with oedematous infiltration of the interstitium the mean level of testosterone in testicular tissue was determined 16.2 +/- 24.6, in the head of the epididymis it was 6.2 +/- 3.59, in the corpus 4.6 +/- 3.3 and 2.07 +/- 1.2 ng/g of testosterone was obtained from the cauda of the epididymis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)