Stereological Studies on the Testis of Adult Male African Giant Rat (Cricetomys gambianus, Waterhouse)

The science of Stereology deals with a body of methods for the exploration of three-dimensional space, when only two-dimensional sections through solid bodies or projections on a surface are available. It provides practical techniques (model- or design-based techniques) for extracting quantitative information about a three-dimensional material from measurements made on two-dimensional planar sections of the material. African giant rat (AGR) is in general appearance, much like an extremely large rat. The tail however, is distinctive; it is long and robust with the proximal portion dark, like the body of the animal, while the terminal part is white. Cheek pouches are present hence the animal is sometimes referred to as the pouched rat. However, there is dearth of information regarding the animal's testis, hence the purpose of this study was to obtain morphometric information on some parameters of its testis. In this study, the testicular volume and weight, total number of seminiferous tubules and numerical density of seminiferous tubules, as well as volume fraction of interstitium and volume fraction of testicular capillaries were investigated. The results showed that the mean body weight and testes weight of the adult AGR was 848.14g and 0.95g respectively, with no significant correlation ( p

Key Words: African giant rat (Cricetomys gambianus, Waterhouse); Stereology; Testis