Authors
Abstract
Background and purpose: Many studies have been conducted on the effects of ethanol on testis; however, little attention has been paid to microscopic changes due to alcohol administration. This study is, therefore, conducted to evaluate the effects of ethanol on the microscopic structure of testis in mice and whether probable changes are restricted to a specific area or the entire testicular tissue is affected.
Methods and Materials: For the purposes of the study, forty male Balb/c mice were selected and randomly divided into two equal experimental and control groups. The experimental group received 1mg ethanol intraperitoneal injection per each gram body weight every day; the control group mice were injected, as a placebo, the same amount of normal saline. After one month, one half of the mice and after two months, the other half - in both control and experimental groups - were anesthetized; their testis were immediately removed, washed in normal saline and placed in fixative formalin. After routine histological processing and embedding in paraffin, sections of 10 mm thickness were cut and stained by Hematoxylin-Eosin. Prepared specimens were examined and photographed by light microscopy.
Results: Abnormal testicular changes occurred in mice with one month ethanol injection. Excessive somniferous tubules destructions were also observed in mice with two-month ethanol injection. But no abnormal changes or destructions were observed in mice of the control group.
Conclusion: The injection of ethanol has a progressive destructive effect on somniferous tubules and germ cells of testis in a way that the longer the duration of the ethanol injections, the stronger the effects of destructive changes will be.
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