Background: Gibberellic acids are naturally occurring plant hormones that are used in agriculture as plant regulators and enter animals and human cells through diet. This study was undertaken to investigate effects of gibberellic acid on testicular tissue of adult rats. Materials and Methods: Twenty seven adult male Wistar rats after a one week acclimatization period were randomly divided into ...

During normal spermatogenesis, more than half of the germ cells undergo apoptosis, but the physiological significance and molecular mechanisms of this programmed cell death are largely unknown. Because Bcl-2 functions as a death repressor, we have investigated the effect of misexpressing Bcl-2 in spermatogonia in transgenic mice using the human bcl-2 cDNA under the control of the human polypept...

Protein 4.1G is a membrane skeletal protein found in specific subcellular structures in myelinated Schwann cells and seminiferous tubules. Here, we show that in the mouse sciatic nerve, protein 4.1G colocalized at Schmidt-Lanterman incisures (SLI) and the paranodes with a member of the membrane-associated guanylate kinase (MAGUK) family, membrane protein palmitoylated 6 (MPP6). Coimmunoprecipit...

The present study was conducted to obtain new information on relationships among serum testosterone (T), estradiol-17 beta (E(2)), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and luteinizing hormone (LH) concentrations and histology of seminiferous tubules in captured common minke and Bryde's whales during the feeding season. Blood samples and testes were collected from common minke (n=39 for blood sam...

Cyclin A is a member of the cyclin family of proteins, which are required for both the mitotic and meiotic divisions that characterise spermatogenesis in human and other mammalian species. The data on cyclin A expression in various human spermatogenic disorders and its relationship to the morphology of seminiferous tubules are not well clarified. This study aimed to evaluate the immunohistochem...

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is associated with adverse developmental outcomes including embryonic resorption, fetal death, congenital teratogenesis and fetal growth retardation. Here, we explored the effects of maternal LPS exposure during pregnancy on testicular development, steroidogenesis and spermatogenesis in male offspring. The pregnant mice were intraperitoneally injected with LPS (50 µg/kg...

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of different doses of mercury on fetal testis. In this investigation 20 adult female rats were divided in four groups. All animals became pregnant by natural mating. Mercuric oxide was induced in three groups by different doses (0.5, 1 and 2 mg/Kg/day) at 10 terminal days of pregnancy. After parturition, male offspring were reared for 60 days. At...

Meishan boars experience puberty at a younger age than crossbred boars in association with earlier expansion of seminiferous tubules and smaller postpubertal testicular size. The current study defined changes in expression, assessed by immunohistochemistry, of anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) and CDKN1B, markers of Sertoli cell differentiation, in prepubertal Meishan and crossbred (BX) boars and re...

Many evidences have surfaced the adverse effects of environmental pollutants on male reproduction. Volcanogenic pollution is understudied, although it is a well-known source of hazardous contaminants. This study aims to assess the effects of chronic exposure to volcanogenic pollution on wild mice testes by studying: (i) diameter of seminiferous tubules; (ii) relative volumetric density of diffe...