Morphometric Changes of Rat Testis After Subchronic Oal Lead Intoxication and D-Penicillamine Treatment

Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of D-Penicillamine in reducing lead induced morphometric changes in rat testis. Materials and Methods: Male adult rats were exposed to 0.4% lead acetate in drinking water for 8 weeks. After this period, 6 rats sacrificed and testes were removed to evaluate the effects of lead intoxication. The remained lead exposed rats were divided into two groups: one group received distilled water and the other group received 25-35 mg/kg/day of oral D-p treatment for six weeks, after one week of recovery. Testis morphometric changes were studied in H&E stained sections. Results: Width of germinal epithelium and number of sertoli cells were decreased after 8 weeks of lead intoxication (P<0.05). These parameters were still significantly lower than control group after both of recovery and treatment periods (P<0.05). Conclusion: This study showed that subchronic oral lead intoxication induces some changes in adult testis which are not reversible even after D-P administration.