Histologic and histomorphometric changes of testis following oral exposure to methyl tertiary-butyl ether in adult rat

Methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) is used to reduce carbon monoxide and ozone in urban air and to boost fuel octane. There is a lack of knowledge in the literature about the histomorphometric changes of the testis following exposure to MTBE. Therefore, this experimental study was performed to determine the effect of oral exposure to MTBE on histologic and histomorphometric changes of testis in adult rat. A total of 25 adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into five equal experimental groups: control, almond oil and three treatment groups which received 400, 800 and 1600 mg/kg/day MTBE in almond oil by gavages for 30 consecutive days. Histomorphometric analysis showed no significant difference in absolute and relative testis weight, connective tissue thickness, germinal epithelium height, tunica albuginea thickness and Sertoli cell numbers between experimental groups (P>0.05). However, trend analysis showed that the seminiferous tubule diameter increased and interstitial cell numbers as well as spermatocyte and spermatid cell numbers decreased significantly in MTBE treated groups (P