New method of quantitative analysis of seminiferous epithelium in male guinea pigs

The aim of the study was the comparison of a newly developed method of quantitative analysis of the seminiferous epithelium (SE) cells with the traditional method based on stage classification according to Clermont. In 4000 sections of seminiferous tubules the following parameters have been evaluated: in procedure I--the frequency of cells at the particular stages of the SE cycle, in procedure II--the frequency of particular cell types forming SE. In the two procedures, 17,726 and 14,670 cells were assessed, respectively. In both procedures, the mean values of the studied cells per animal (I--886.3 +/- 15.4; II--733.5 +/- 96.9) and the distribution of the particular types of cells were similar. The new method of quantitative analysis is less laborious and cheaper. It may be applied instead of the method used so far.