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Roles of Fas/FasL‐mediated apoptosis and inhibin B in the testicular dysfunction of rats with left‐side varicocele

We investigated the role of the Fas/FasL signalling pathway and inhibin B expression in rats with an experimentally induced left‐side varicocele. Forty‐five Sprague Dawley (SD) male rats were randomly divided into three groups in average: control group, sham group and experimental group. The expression of inhibin B in the rat left testis was analysed at the mRNA and protein levels by reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) and Western blotting respectively. The expressions of Fas, FasL and caspase‐3 in the left testis were measured by RT‐PCR and immunofluorescence. The apoptosis index (AI) was measured by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labelling (TUNEL). Both the mRNA and protein of inhibin B were significantly reduced in the experimental group compared with that in the control group or the sham group. The expression of Fas, FasL and caspase‐3 in the experimental group was significantly increased compared to that in the control group or the sham group. The concentration of serum inhibin B was also inversely related to circulating FSH concentrations and positively correlated with sperm count. It is concluded that Fas/FasL system may play an important role in apoptosis of rats with experimental varicocele and inhibin B could reflect spermatogenesis function.