Quantitative characterisation of Sertoli and spermatogonia cells in magnesium deficiency and its pharmacological correction

The aim of the study was to determine the structural features of the testes in cases of dietary magnesium deficiency and its pharmacological correction.

Materials and methods: An experimental study was conducted on 50 outbred sexually mature male rats weighing 200–300 g. Hypomagnesemia was modeled for 12 weeks using a magnesium-deficient diet. The animals were divided into 5 experimental groups. The first group was the control group, animals were kept on a complete diet, the second group consisted of animals with dietary magnesium deficiency, and the third, fourth, and fifth groups received pharmacological correction with magnesium preparations: Magne B6, Magnevitol and Bishofit respectively. Animals from which testes were isolated were randomly selected from the group for histological examination. Microscopic preparations were prepared using standard histological techniques. Morphometric analysis of the testes was assessed using a standard method, determining Sertoli cell and spermatogonial counts. Statistical processing of the results was performed using Prism 8 software (GraphPad Software Inc., USA).

Results: When counting the number of spermatogenic epithelial cells and sustentacular cells, a significant 22 % decrease in these cells was noted in the hypomagnesemia group of animals, indicating the onset of degenerative changes in the spermatogenic epithelium. In the experimental groups receiving magnesium supplements from weeks 9 to 12 of magnesium deficiency, a statistically significant increase of 17.5–18 % in the examined cells in the convoluted seminiferous tubules (p < 0.05) was observed, indicating the reversibility of the characteristic structural changes in the testes associated with hypomagnesemia.

Conclusions: The study revealed that magnesium deficiency resulted in a statistically significant reduction in the number of examined cells in the convoluted seminiferous tubules of rat testes. In the testes of rats in the experimental groups receiving magnesium supplements, a restoration of spermatogonia and Sertoli cell counts was observed, indicating the reversibility of the identified structural and functional changes.