HISTOLOGY AND HISTOPATHOLOGY

From Cell Biology to Tissue Engineering

 

Influence of three different histological methods on the morphology and morphometrical data in human testis

Hélio Chiarini-Garcia1, Mirna Y.S. Lima1, Augusto B. Reis2,3, Reginaldo Martello3, Fabíola Nihi1, Marcos L.M. Gomes1,4 and Fernanda R.C.L. Almeida1

1Department of Morphology, Institute of Biological Sciences, 2Department of Surgery, Medical School, 3Nephrology and Urology Service of Clinical Hospital, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte and 4Department of Structural Biology, Federal University of Triangulo Mineiro, Uberaba, Brazil

Offprint requests to: Professor Dr. Hélio Chiarini-Garcia, Departamento de Morfologia, ICB-UFMG. Av. Antônio Carlos, 6627, Pampulha. CEP 31.270-901 Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil. e-mail: chiarini@icb.ufmg.br


Summary. Coagulant fixatives and paraffin embedding were widely used in the past for histomorphometrical evaluations of the human testis under physiological and pathological conditions. However, new methods are applied nowadays using better combinations of fixatives and plastic resins as embedding media, improving cell and tissue structural preservation. In an attempt to compare old and new data, the present study evaluated histomorphometrical data obtained from human testis after three different histological processing methods: Bouin/paraplast, glutaraldehyde/glycol methacrylate and glutaraldehyde/araldite. The morphometrical parameters were not affected by glutaraldehyde fixation after both resin embedding (methacrylate or araldite). On the other hand, Bouin/paraplast embedding lead to tissue shrinkage, which could give rise to misinterpretations on the measurements performed. Since some germ and somatic cells recognition do not depend upon high resolution techniques, counting of such cell types could be performed even using routine Bouin/paraplast protocols. Thus, the morphometrical analyses relying on cell recognition were not affected by the methods here applied, however, when metric measurements were applied, the obtained results could not be promptly compared. On the other hand, if the study requires confident spermatogonial identification for kinetics evaluation, glutaraldehyde/araldite processing is highly recommended. Histol Histopathol 32, 27-34 (2017)

Key words: Fixative, Resin, High-resolution light microscopy, Testicular morphometry, Human testis

DOI: 10.14670/HH-11-765