Effect of the season on the histology and histochemistry of the male genital organs of Gaddi goat and Gaddi sheep

Histological and histochemical studies were conducted in the testis, epididymis and vas deference of Gaddi goats and Gaddi sheep in different seasons (spring, summer, autumn and winter) of the year. In each season, 6 animals of each species were utilized. The studies of these organs in both the species of Gaddi breed were more or less, similar. The capsular thickness, diameter of the seminiferous tubules, density of the Leydig cells, epithelial height of the epididymis and vas deferens were maximum in autumn and minimum in summer. The cytoplasm of the interstitial cells showed strong reaction for the glycogen whose intensity did not vary in the different seasons. The Leydig cells also exhibited reaction for cholesterol whose intensity was maximum in autumn and minimum in summer. The glycogen histochemistry of the epididymis and vas deferens was similar to that observed in the Leydig cells. The cholesterol reaction of the epididymis also resembled that observed in the cytoplasm of the interstitial cells but no seasonal variation was found for this component in the vas deferens (being of moderate reaction in all the seasons).