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The morphological development of di‐ n ‐pentyl phthalate induced testicular atrophy in the rat
Author(s) -
Creasy Dianne M.,
Foster John R.,
Foster Paul M. D.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
the journal of pathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.964
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1096-9896
pISSN - 0022-3417
DOI - 10.1002/path.1711390307
Subject(s) - sertoli cell , germinal epithelium , endocrinology , medicine , atrophy , seminiferous tubule , biology , phthalate , endoplasmic reticulum , testicle , spermatogenesis , chemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , organic chemistry
Prepubertal rats treated orally with di‐ n ‐pentyl phthalate at 2·2 g/kg body weight were killed at 1, 3, 6 and 24 hr following a single dose, and after 2, 3 and 4 days of repeated daily dosing. At 3 hr Sertoli cells in a proportion of the seminiferous tubules showed vacuolation of the perinuclear smooth endoplasmic reticulum with an associated inward displacement of germinal cells. By 6 hr the vacuolation had extended to the apical cytoplasm and was evident in most tubules. Early degenerative changes were also apparent in spermatocytes and spermatids and were accompanied by an acute interstitial inflammatory infiltrate By 24 hr. germinal cell degeneration was extensive with desquamation and general disorganisation of cell layers within the epithelium, but the interstitial inflammatory infiltrate had declined. Mitochondrial succinic dehydrogenase activity in Sertoli cells was reduced at 3 and 6 hr and absent by 24 hr. In germinal cells it was unaffected at 3 and 6 hr but absent by 24 hr. Two, three and four days of daily phthalate treatment resulted in a gradual depletion of germinal cells from all tubules, leaving a Sertoli cell matrix containing a few necrotic spermatocytes and occasional normal spermatogonia. The significance of the early Sertoli cell changes is discussed.