BACKGROUNDThe morphological measurements of seminiferous tubules are important in the studies of testis tissues. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of using a stereological method to measure the geometric parameters of seminiferous tubule and to optimize the method.

METHODSA stereological image processing program was developed with Delphi for the stereological measurement. Fields of view were obtained from 15 healthy Wistar rats' testis tissues (n = 247). The diameter, area and volume of seminiferous tubule were estimated with the image processing program by two individual observers. The area results were compared with those obtained by the standard morphometric method of planimetry.

RESULTSDiameter measurements showed the diameters of different seminiferous tubules were almost the same and the mean value of about 50 tubules could be a good representation of the whole structure. Area measurements indicated there was no significant difference between stereology and planimetry (P > 0.05). But the stereological method required about 45% less time. Volume measurement showed the inter-observer variability was small (P > 0.05) and the reproducibility of the stereological method was good.

CONCLUSIONThe stereological technique was practical and efficient in the quantitative measurement of the rat's seminiferous tubule.