Human Reproduction, Vol. 18, No. 1, 13-18,
January 2003
© 2003 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology
Number of germ cells and somatic cells in human fetal testes during the first weeks after sex differentiation
1 Fertility Clinic, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Hospital of Odense, Sdr. Boulevard 29, 5000 Odense C and 2 Laboratory of Reproductive Biology, Juliane Marie Center for Children, Women and Reproduction, University Hospital of Copenhagen, Rigshospitalet, Blegdamsvej 9, 2100 København Ø, Denmark 3 To whom correspondence should be addressed. e-mail: eske.bendsen{at}dadlnet.dk
BACKGROUND: This study presents the number of germ cells and somatic cells in human fetal testes during week 6 to week 9 post conception, i.e. the first weeks following sex differentiation of the testes. METHODS: One testis with attached mesonephros from each of 10 individual legal abortions was used. After recovery of the fetus, the testes were immediately isolated, fixed and processed for histology. The optical fractionator technique, a stereological method, was utilized to estimate the total number of germ cells in ten testes and somatic cells in six of them. RESULTS: The number of germ cells per testis increased from 
3000 in week 6 to 30 000 in week 9. The ratio of germ cells to Sertoli cells was 1:11 and the ratio of germ cells to somatic cells was 1:44 throughout this period. CONCLUSIONS: For the first time, germ cell and somatic cell number have been determined during early human fetal testis development. Knowledge of the number of germ cells in this period may be very important, because several environmental pollutants are suspected to result in decreased semen quality in men born of mothers exposed to these pollutants during pregnancy.
Key words: fetal testes/first trimester/germ cells/human/in vivo
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