The effects of sodium arsenite on the testis structure and sex hormones invasectomised rats

Sodium arsenite and/ or vasectomy may cause variation in sex hormoneswhich affect pathophysiology of reproductive organs.

The aim was to investigate the morphological changes in structure of testisand hormonal imbalance in bilateral Vasectomised rats treated with sodium arsenite.

Four groups of rats: bilateral vasectomy + sodium arsenite,bilateral vasectomy, sham operated + sodium arsenite and sham operated only wereconsidered, and 8 mg/kg/ day of sodium arsenite was given for 8 weeks to the rats. Thetotal volume of testis, volume of interstitial tissue, volume of seminiferous tubules,diameter of seminiferous tubules and germinal epithelium thickness were evaluatedusing stereological methods. Hormones were also measured and the results wereanalyzed using one way ANOVA.

A significant reduction of total volume of testis (p<0.01), mean volume ofseminiferous tubules (p<0.002) as well as germinal epithelium thickness (p<0.05) inboth vasectomy + sodium arsenite and vasectomy rats was seen compared to shamoperated only. In addition a significant reduction of testosterone was observed invasectomy + sodium arsenite group when compared to the other groups (p<0.001). LHlevel decreased significantly in vasectomy + sodium arsenite when compared to shamoperated ones (p<0.05).

Vasectomy and treatment with sodium arsenite affect the structure of testiswith respect to its volume, volume of seminiferous tubules and thickness of germinalepithelium, which may be due to variation of LH and testosterone level in the rats.