The distal vas deferens of spontaneously hypertensive rats – a histomorphometric evaluation

Abstract

Introduction: The spontaneously hypertensive rats strain are widely used as a model for investigation of hypertension involving ejaculatory function and its relevant structures. There are no reports of this rats’ vas deferens histomorphometry or their comparison with Wistar Kyoto. Material and Methods: Fourteen male rats (4 months old) were divided into 2 groups: WKY - group composed of Wistar Kyoto rats and SHR- composed of spontaneously hypertensive rats. Mean arterial pressure was measured weekly. At age of 4 months, rats were euthanized. The right vas deferens were collected and processed. The area without adventitial tunica, the muscular tunica area, height of the pseudostratified epithelium with and without the stereocilia, as well as the height of the stereocilia were measured. The unpaired Student T test (parametric data) or the Mann-Whitney test (non-parametric data) were used to compare the results and they were considered significant when p < 0.05. Results: The mean arterial pressure was 59.4% higher in SHR. The area without the tunica adventitia was 15.5% lower in SHR, as well as muscular tunica area. The height of the pseudostratified epithelium with stereocilia was 26.4% lower in SHR, as well as the height of the pseudostratified epithelium without stereocilia in 23.1% and the height of the stereocilia in 36.2%. Conclusions: The distal vas deferens of spontaneously hypertensive rats present histomorphometric differences when compared to the control strain. Such data should be taken into account when using the model in studies that aim to evaluate the ejaculatory function.