Far-East "Orhon" Inscriptions (720-735 AD) in the view of Andrology.

OBJECTIVE: The stone monuments named as "Orhon" inscriptions located in Middle Asia are considered the first written Turkish findings. Our aim was to discuss the contents and physical appearance of the monuments according to the andrological perspective. METHODS: These inscriptions were composed of three stone monuments built in the years 720-735 AD, in honor of three Khagans (Ruling leaders). RESULTS: Although the theme of the writings emphasizes the male-dominant ruling style of the antique Middle Asian migratory tribes, we claim that the most interesting point was that the phallus had a secret role in the perspective of the stone monuments. CONCLUSION: The trilogy of power, state authority, and erection was monumentalized in 8th-century inscriptions. The signs of Andrology should be sought in history, archeology, and art to expand the esthetic horizon of modern medical sciences.

The Sertoli cell: one hundred fifty years of beauty and plasticity.

It has been one and a half centuries since Enrico Sertoli published the seminal discovery of the testicular 'nurse cell', not only a key cell in the testis, but indeed one of the most amazing cells in the vertebrate body. In this review, we begin by examining the three phases of morphological research that have occurred in the study of Sertoli cells, because microscopic anatomy was essentially the only scientific discipline available for about the first 75 years after the discovery. Biochemistry and molecular biology then changed all of biological sciences, including our understanding of the functions of Sertoli cells. Immunology and stem cell biology were not even topics of science in 1865, but they have now become major issues in our appreciation of Sertoli cell's role in spermatogenesis. We end with the universal importance and plasticity of function by comparing Sertoli cells in fish, amphibians, and mammals. In these various classes of vertebrates, Sertoli cells have quite different modes of proliferation and epithelial maintenance, cystic vs. tubular formation, yet accomplish essentially the same function but in strikingly different ways.