Change in the Testes, Epididymis and Prostate Gland of the Rams Infected with Trypanosoma congolense

Abstract

Ten rams inoculated intravenously with Trypanosoma congolense developed marked progressive anomalies in their reproductive organs during the infection period lasting 79 days. The testes became atrophic which was associated with marked decline in testicular weights and seminiferous tubular diameter and the development of varying degrees of non-inflammatory degeneration lesions in tubular germinal cells. The normal tall columnar prostate epithelium atrophied to low cuboidal and the cauda epididymis showed marked decline in sperm reserve. The changes in the testes, prostate and cauda epididymis in T. congolense infected rams closely resembled those induced artificially in these organs by elevation of testicular temperature by scrotal insulation of uninfected rams. These findings suggest thcit the reproductive disorders induced by T. congolense in males might in part be a pyrexic effect induced by the infection which interferes with the thermoregulation of the gonads and associated tissues.