Ultrastructural effects of cigarette smoke on rat testis

The purpose of this study was to investigate the ultrastructural changes ta king place in the testicular tissue of adult male Wistar rats following exp osure to cigarette smoke, Twenty rats were exposed to smoke in a smoking ma chine for 2 h daily for 60 days; 10 control rats were placed in the machine for the same amount of time but were exposed to room air. After ether anes thesia and dissection of the animals, the testes were removed and fixed in 2.5% glutaraldehyde, The sections were examined under a transmission electr on microscope. Evident degeneration and dissociation of the spermatogenetic cells were common findings. Basal lamina of the tubuli seminiferi contorti was thickened and significantly irregular, Cigarette smoke inhalation dama ged the seminiferous epithelium. The primary spermatocytes as well as Serto li cells appeared to be targets for the smoke. The results indicated that c igarette smoke inhalation could cause specific lesions in the development o f spermatozoon, and it might be either directly or indirectly toxic to sper matogenesis, Copyright (C) 1999 S. Karger AG, Basel.