The silver staining technique for AgNOR nucleolar organizer regions (NORs) is characterized by marking proteins linked to the ribosomal ribonucleic acid, evaluating cell proliferation. The aim was to study the validity of the AgNOR staining technique in the testicular cell proliferation in crossbred ovine. Forty-three pairs of ovine testicles between 6 and 10 months old were collected. Wilcoxon and Spearman tests were used with a significance level of 5%. The mean NORs count in cells of the right and left gonads were respectively: spermatogonia (8.77±1.14 and 9.04±0.96), spermatocytes (4.99±2.00 and 6.20±2.07, P<0.05), Leydig (8.05±2.82 and 7.89±2.29) and Sertoli cells (8.07±1.88 and 7.61±2.16; P<0.05). There was a correlation between the mean values for the right and left sides for the number of NORs (P<0.05) between Leydig x spermatocytes (0.49); spermatocytes x Sertoli (0.49) and Sertoli x Leydig (0.96). The study demonstrates that the AgNOR staining technique is indicated to evaluate the cell proliferative potential in ovine testis with practical implementation and low cost.
Ovis aries; testicle; celular proliferation; NOR; slaughterhouse
