Macrophages and Leydig Cells in Testicular Biopsies of Azoospermic Men
Figure 3
Transmission electron microscopy of a Leydig cell in the control biopsy ((a), (b)) and in the case of NOA ((c) and (d)). (a) Leydig cell from the control biopsy. Within a regular, rounded nucleus (N) a prominent nucleolus (n) is found. Cytoplasm (c) contains various organelles. The cell is surrounded by an extracellular matrix with collagen fibres (col). Framed area is represented in (b). (b) Part of the Leydig cell depicted in the previous picture. In the close proximity of the nucleus (N), numerous mitochondria (m) with tubular cristae, many cisternae of smooth endoplasmic reticulum (✦), and a lipid droplet (Ld) are visible. Occasional polyribosomes (→) are bound to few cisternae of rough endoplasmic reticulum (cm, cell membrane). (c) Leydig cell from the biopsy of NOA patient. The nucleus (N) is heavily indented and irregular. The cytoplasm bears a lot of vacuoles (v) with a low electron density material. Other typical organelles for a steroid-producing cell are also present: mitochondria (m), cisternae of smooth endoplasmic reticulum (✦), and sporadic lipid droplets (Ld). The framed area is represented in (d). (d) A part of Leydig cell shown in the previous figure, higher magnification. In the vicinity of the nucleus (N), a cell cytoplasm has a vacuole (v) with a kind of a unit membrane. The majority of the vacuole is translucent. However, the rim contains a thin area of the material of moderate electron density (also present in other vacuoles illustrated in (c)). Some of the cisternae of smooth endoplasmic reticulum (✦) are wider than normal (m, mitochondria) (TEM, original magnification ×7.000/(a), (c)/, ×20.000/(b), (d)/; scale bar = 1 μm).
