Antioxidant Systems and Oxidative Stress in the Testes

Spermatogenesis is an extremely active replicative process capable of generating approximately 1,000 sperm a second. The high rates of cell division inherent in this proccss simply correspondingly high rates of mitochondrial oxygen consumption by the germinal epirheliun. However, the poor vascularizarion of the testes means that oxygen tensions in this tissue are low and that competition for this vital element within the testes is extremely intense. Since both spermatogenesis and Leydig cell steroidogenesis are vunerable to oxidative stress, the low oxygen tension that characterizes this tissue may be an important component of the mechanisms by which the testes protects itself from free radical-mediated…