Stage-synchronization of the seminiferous tubules after vitamin A replacement in vitamin A deficient golden hamsters.

The effect of vitamin A deficiency and vitamin A replacement on spermatogenesis in golden hamsters was studied using a light microscope. Male golden hamsters were fed a vitamin A deficient (VAD) diet from 3 weeks of age. Hamsters with a VAD diet reached maximum body weight at about 13 weeks. After 17 weeks, the body weight of the hamsters began to decrease. When their body weight decreased to 70 g, only Sertoli cells, spermatogonia, and a few spermatocytes were present within the seminiferous tubules. Administering retinol acetate (vitamin A) combined with a conventional diet to the VAD hamsters induced a reinitiation of spermatogenesis with stage-synchronization. At 9, 10, and 11 weeks after vitamin A replacement, the testes with active spermatogenesis possessed only a few successive stages of the seminiferous epithelial cycle.