Presence of the Unique Duct Containing the Sertoli Cell-Like Cluster on a Histological Section of Human Testicular Tissue

Abstract

Background and objective: In observation of a human testicular section slide for teaching preparation of male reproductive system for medical students, it was found a unique duct that has never been documented previously in any basic histological text book. Therefore, researcher aimed to observe all histological slides of human tissues to additionally confirm the presence of this unique duct.    

Methods: Of 50 slides from 15 boxes, all human testicular tissue section slides (stained by hematoxylin and eosin dyes) purchased from a commercial company for teaching and learning of medical students, faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen university, were  observed under light microscope using objective lens of 4X, 10X, 20X, and 40X respectively. Then the unique duct found in the testicular section was recorded and photographed.

Results: From all testicular section slides, only one crossed section of human testicular tissue shows the unique duct containing the psudostratified or simple columnar epithelium with abundant glycocalyxes on apical surface. In addition, the ductal wall is composed of simple smooth muscle cells. Interestingly, there is a cluster of cells located in the lumen which is similar to the histology of Sertoli cells. Therefore, it is primarily named as the cluster of Sertoli-like cells.

Conclusion: This study reports a very unique duct present in the human testicular tissue for the firs time. However, the reconstruction and functional tests of the unique testis need to be further study to elucidate its roles.