Innervation and Vasculature of the Excurrent Duct System

Setchell, B. P.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4615-0679-9_3

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…The ductus deferens is innervated by motor (efferent) fibres belonging to the autonomic nervous system and by sensory (afferent) fibres (for review see Setchell et al ., 1994; Setchell, 2002).…”

Section: Neuromorphological Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of neurones of the brain and spinal cord involved in the innervation of the ductus deferens using the viral tracing method

et al. 2003

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Using the viral transneuronal tracing technique cell groups of the spinal cord and brain transsynaptically connected with the ductus deferens were identified. Neurotropic (pseudorabies) virus was injected into the muscular coat of the ductus deferens and after survival times of 3, 4 and 5 days the spinal cord and brain were processed immunocytochemically. Virus-labelled neurones could be detected in the preganglionic sympathetic neurones and the dorsal commissural nucleus (upper lumbar segments) and in the sacral parasympathetic nucleus (L6-S1). Virus-infected perikarya were present in several brain stem nuclei including the gigantocellular and paragigantocellular nucleus, the lateral reticular nucleus, the nucleus of the solitary tract, the caudal raphe nuclei, the A1/C1, A2, A5 and A7 noradrenergic cell groups and the locus coeruleus. In the hypothalamus significant numbers of virus-infected neurones could be detected in the paraventricular nucleus. In most cases moderate numbers of virus-labelled cells were present in the lateral hypothalamic area, in the retrochiasmatic area, in the periventricular region and in the median preoptic area. Double-labelling immunofluorescence detection of virus-infected neurones and thyrosine hydroxylase (TH) showed colocalization of virus protein and TH in portion of neurones of the A1/C1, A2, A5 and A7 noradrenergic cell groups, in the locus coeruleus and in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus. The present results provide the first morphological data on the multisynaptic circuit of neurones innervating the ductus deferens.

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Section: Neuromorphological Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of neurones of the brain and spinal cord involved in the innervation of the ductus deferens using the viral tracing method

et al. 2003

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“…Sperm maturation occurs as sperm transit through the epididymis and are exposed to changing luminal environments, leading to the acquisition of motility and the ability to fertilize (Hermo, ; Rodriguez & Hinton, ; Franca et al ., ; Sullivan et al ., ). Autonomic innervation of the epididymis is directly involved in this process, primarily in the cauda region where there are elevated levels of noradrenaline related to the thick muscle layer surrounding the tubule which contains a dense population of adrenergic fibers (Setchell, ; Borges et al ., ; De Grava Kempinas, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prenatal exposure to betamethasone causes intergenerational impairment of epididymal development in the rat

et al. 2019

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Background: Studies on epididymal toxicology are scarce. Betamethasone (BM) is a glucocorticoid used in clinical practice for antenatal therapy. We previously reported changes to testicular morphology, altered sperm quality, and fertility in adult rats following intrauterine administration of BM. Objectives: Given that high levels of corticosteroids during gestation lead to fetal androgen depletion, and the essential role of testosterone during epididymal development, here we investigated epididymal morphology and physiology in the F1 and F2 male offspring of female rats treated with BM during gestation. Materials and methods: Pregnant rats were randomly divided into two experimental groups: control (saline vehicle, n = 11) and BM-treated group (0.1 mg/kg betamethasone 21-phosphate disodium, n = 13). Rats received an intramuscular injection of vehicle or BM on gestational days 12, 13, 18, and 19. This encompasses the beginning of the critical window of male rat reproductive tract development. A subset of three males from each litter (n = 5 litters/group) was used: One rat per litter was euthanized at puberty, one was euthanized at adulthood, while the others were mated with a non-treated female to obtain the F2 generation. The same protocol described for the F1 was applied for F2, except for the mating protocol. Results: In both F1 and F2 generations, prenatal BM exposure resulted in delayed differentiation of the cauda epididymal epithelium, characterized by increased cribriform appearance on PND 45, and displayed weaker or non-detectable Cx43 immunostaining. Furthermore, in the F1 generation only, immunostaining of TP63, a transcription factor expressed in basal cells, appeared more intense with a greater number of TP63-positive cells observed in the cauda epididymis. In adults, the epithelial area was reduced in the F1 BM rats. The contractile activity of isolated epididymal ducts was comparable between groups. Discussion and Conclusion: Prenatal BM exposure leads to intergenerational impairment in the development and structure of the rat epididymis.

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