Lead-induced cell death in testes of young rats

Lead is a well-documented testicular toxicant. The present work was planned to study the occurrence of germ cell death after lead administration. Youn g growing rats were treated with 5, 10 and 20 mg kg(-1) body weight of lead for 2 weeks. Cell death was assessed by employing in situ TUNEL staining, DNA electrophoresis and morphological examination of the tubules. The resul ts showed that Ph induced significant numbers of germ cells to undergo apop tosis in the seminiferous tubules of rats treated with 20 mg kg(-1) body we ight. However, DNA fragmentation was not detected at any of the doses. The level of lead accumulation in the testis increased in a dose-dependent mann er. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.