Text: leydig cells - Cells in the interstitial tissue of the testis that are believed to furnish the internal secretion of that gland. Leydig's cells, 1. clusters of epithelioid cells constituting the endocrine tissue of the testis, which elaborate androgens, chiefly testosterone; called also interstitial c's or interstitial c's of Leydig, and interstitial glands. 2. mucous cells that do not pour their secretion out over the surface of the epithelium. interstitial cells, 1. Leydig's c's. 2. masses of large epithelioid, lipid-containing cells in the ovarian stroma, believed to have a secretory function, derived from the theca interna of atretic ovarian follicles, and thus, in humans, more numerous during the first year of life when atresia proceeds rapidly. In women, they are either absent or poorly represented, but in some other mammals, especially rabbits, they are more prominent; see also interstitial gland (def. 2), under gland. 3. cells with elongated nuclei and long cytoplasmic processes, found in the perivascular areas and between the cords of pinealocytes in the pineal body, and regarded by some to be glial elements. 4. fat-storing c's of liver. interstitial gland, 1. (pl.) the aggregations of Leydig cells of the testis; so called because of their occurrence in clusters and their endocrine function. 2. the interstitial cells of the ovary, collectively; so called because of their epithelioid appearance and presumed secretory function.

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