4IO INANITION AND MALNUTRITION 



Siperstein ('21) studied the effects of inanition in the albino rat, finding 

 that: 



"In rats two days old starved for forty-eight to fifty hours, the testis 

 increases markedly in weight, but mitoses are reduced in number and the 

 normal process of histological differentiation is arrested. The seminiferous 

 tubules remain nearly normal in diameter. 



"During underfeeding for various periods beginning in rats three weeks old, 

 mitosis continues in the cells of the seminiferous, tubules, but the process of 

 spermatogenesis is arrested at the primary spermatocyte stage, which persists 

 even in rats over 400 days old. The spermatocytes degenerate and are 

 resorbed, but if the number formed exceeds those destroyed, the testis may 

 increase in weight. Multinucleated giant-cells are formed during the process 

 of degeneration. The spermatogonia and Sertoli cells usually persist unaffected, 

 except in very extreme cases, where a complete degeneration and disintegra- 

 tion of the seminiferous epithelium may occur. If the underfeeding begins 

 after sexual maturity, the seminiferous tissue is much more resistant and 

 normal spermatogenesis may persist for a long time. The seminiferous tubules 

 may increase slightly in diameter in the shorter tests, but usually appear sub- 

 normal in size in the longer experiments. 



"Acute inanition in adult rats, with 30-47 per cent loss in body weight, 

 produces degenerative changes in a few, irregularly scattered, tubules. All 

 the other tubules show apparently normal structure and spermatogenesis, 

 although there is a general decrease in their size. The degenerative changes 

 are initiated by a desquamation of the epithelial cells into the lumen of the 

 seminiferous tubule, followed by pycnosis and karyolysis. The process involves 

 first the spermatids and spermatozoa, then the secondary and primary 

 spermatocytes, and finally the spermatogonia. The Sertoli cells are the most 

 resistant. During the degenerative process, multinucleated giant-cells arise, 

 apparently by fusion of the degenerating spermatocytes. 



"During inanition, mitosis is very persistent in the seminiferous epithelium, 

 both in young and adult rats. It may occur even in tubules where nearly all 

 the cells are more or less degenerated. Amitosis was not observed. A condi- 

 tion resembling synizesis was frequently observed in the spermatids in both 

 controls and test rats. 



"Refeeding after prolonged inanition (beginning in rats at three weeks of 

 age and extending to twelve to twenty weeks) results in a rapid improvement 

 in the structure of the testis, although it may lag behind in weight for awhile 

 during the preliminary stages of reconstruction. Spermatogenesis returns to 

 normal in a short time, the tubules gradually increase to normal diameter, and 

 spermatozoa appeared in thirty-seven days. 



"There is a definite hypertrophy of the interstitial tissue and an increase 

 in the number of interstitial cells of the testis during the regenerative period on 

 refeeding after inanition (in growing rats). No hypertrophy of the interstitial 

 tissue was found accompanying atrophy of the seminiferous epithelium during 

 inanition in either young or adult rats. The structure of the interstitial tissue 

 and the size of the nuclei apparently remain nearly normal during acute and 



