Influence of chlorocholinechloride-treated wheat on selected in vitro fertility parameters in male mice

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of feeding with food an d water containing chlorocholinechloride (CCC) on the fertility of male mic e in a two-generation study. For this purpose the number of testicular sper matozoa and the relative proportion of primary and secondary spermatocytes involved in spermatogenesis were measured. Furthermore, the fertility of ep ididymal spermatozoa from tested male mice was investigated in a special in -vitro fertilization system. The experimental food was composed of CCC-trea ted wheat in the first experiment and CCC-free wheat and water mixed with p ure CCC in the second experiment. The CCC residue content in the treated fo od and water was 0.21 mg/kg and 0.2 mg/L, respectively. Under the influence of feeding with CCC-treated wheat (Experiment I) the fertilization and cle avage rates of oocytes incubated with spermatozoa from CCC-fed mice were re duced: the fertilization rate 65.1% vs. 21.1% and the cleavage rate 51.9% v s. 20.3%, p < 0.01 (control feeding vs. CCC feeding, respectively). Feeding of sperm donors with pure CCC mixed with untreated wheat pellets or water (Experiment 2) led to a reduction in the fertilization and cleavage rate (c ontrol: 60.8%, 32.4%; CCC-food: 29.8%, 12.1%; CCC-water: 30.1%, 10.2%; CCC- food/water: 36.6%, 12.5%; p < 0.01, respectively). The normal course of spe rmatogenesis was unchanged after the exposure to CCC. Testicular weight, th e number of spermatozoa, and the proportion of haploid, diploid, and tetrap loid testicular cells were not influenced. However, the functional competen ce of epididymal spermatozoa from CCC-fed donors was reduced, resulting in a significantly diminished fertilization and cleavage rate in vitro. The re sults suggest that CCC could interfere with epididymal protein secretion an d the process of sperm maturation during passage through the epididymis. (C ) 1999 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.