Testicular changes in rats after treatment with cadmium chloride.

Abstract

Histological changes in the testes of rats over a 450-day period following a single injection of 1 mg cadmium chloride per 100 gm body weight were studied. After 6 hours marked hyperemia and engorgement of the vessels were noted. Changes in the gametogenic and interstitial protions of the testis followed. Between 2 and 7 days the anatomical and functional integrity of the seminal epithelium and the interstitium were completely lost. The accessory genital organs became infantile. In the peripheral regions of the testis there was some proliferation of fibroblastic cells from underneath the tunica albuginea with the appearance of a few Leydig cells at 10-15 days. From 30 days on there were an increasing number of Leydig cells with an increase in the concentration of fructose to normal values by 90 days. There was a gradual return of morphological and functional integrity of the testis indicating a reversible action of Cd although the weight of the accessory genital organs did not return to normal. After 30 days deposition of fibrous connective tissue around the interstitium and tubules was noted after an initial decline in the concentration of fibrous protein. After cadmium injection there was a progressive increase in lipid concentration of the Leydig cells after 30 days. The response to exogenous gonadotropin was interfered with by cadmium.