الفهرس 
Introduction and Aim of the workOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Twenty-four male albino rats were used in this study. They were divided into 4 age groups; one week, 3 weeks, one month and 3 months (adult). Paraffin sections were prepared and stained with Hx & E, PAS/Hx, Mallory and VanGieson’s stains. Frozen sections were used to study the activity of , acid phosphatase, SO and ATPase. The epididymal duct of rat aged one week, was 1 ined by undifferentiated epithelium, single layer of low columnar non ciliated basophilic cells with a uniform height. By 3 weeks, the epithelium started differentiation into columnar epithelial cells which were the majority and narrow cells which were the minority, together with the appearance of intraepithel ial lymphocytes. Narrow cells were slendrical, deeply stained and with more apically located nuclei compared with the columnar epithelial cells. At this age, some duct sections exhibited cilia (stereocilia). On reaching the age of one month, the epithelium appeared pseudostratified, but pseudostratification became more prominent in the adult epididymis. Stereocil ia appeared along the whole length of the duct. Spermatids were found in the lumen. The epithelial cells lining the duct were; columnar cells with basal nuclei (principal cells), basal cells which were triangular in shape lying on the basement membrane, narrow cells ~hich became easily seen at this age and intraepithelial lymphocytes.