Physical examination of the patient, including the testes, was normal except for a systolic heart murmur (preexisting and known to the patient), and clinical signs of left pleural effusion.
In contrast with ARKO mice (8), reproductive tract formation and testes descent were normal in PTM-ARKO males.
In this regard, it is also notable that in the 500-mg/kg/day DBP treatment group, adult scrotal testes, which were normal in weight and largely normal for gross morphology and completeness of spermatogenesis, clearly exhibited focal abnormalities (focal dysgenesis, SCO tubules).
Both testes and epididymis were normal (Fig. 3a,b).
Histological examination revealed that the testes from Bok −/− Bak −/− males were normal in appearance (consistent with them being fertile; see above).
On genital examination, testes were small (volume 5 ml) and soft in the scrotum, while external genitalia were normal.
The histology of all organs tested, including liver, lungs, brain, kidneys, spleen, thymus, heart, testes and ovaries, was normal (Fig. 3).
Probes from normal testes were obtained from three patients who underwent bilateral orchiectomy because of prostatic cancer.
Our previous study reported that AI-induced and normal testes were similar [ 7] and the present study also could not find any histological differences between the stage VI gonads of AI-induced males and normal males developed either by maturation of IP males or by sex reversal of IP females.
At the time of gonadectomy, testes were classified as small, medium, or normal (large) by a researcher who was blind to the genotype.
