Ultrastructural Changes of Epididymal Spermatozoa in Alcohol Consuming Rats

The evaluation of epididymal sperm ultrastructure in chronic alcohol-consuming rats 16 male mature Wistar rats with the same age of 10 weeks were categorized into two different groups. Control group included 8 rats allowed free access to rat chow and water. Experimental group included 8 rats with free access to rat chow and 5% ethanol in the same volume (50 cc daily) as controls that received water. After 30 days, epididymal spermatozoa from two groups were aspirated for sperm electron microscopic study. No ultrastructural changes were observed in control group. In experimental animals, most of spermatozoa showed several alternations in their ultrastructures. Anomalies such as abnormal nuclear chromatin density, swollen area, rupture and lysis of plasmalemma, persistence of numerous cytoplasmic droplets, mitochondrial swelling and vaculization, absence of axonemal microtubules, complete degeneration of axoneme, deletion of one or more outer dense fibers as well as absence of tail plasmalemma were seen in majority of the alcohol-treated spermatozoa. Spermatozoa from alcohol consuming rats show spectrum of anomalies in their head, middle and principle piece of tail. These may be one of the possible causes of subfertility or infertility due to alcohol consumption.