Morphological alteration of seminiferous tubules of testes of Wistar rat offspring exposed to alcohol during pregnancy and/or lactation

Abstract

This paper presents the effects of alcohol on the morphology of seminiferous tubules of testes of Wistar rat offspring exposed to alcohol during pregnancy and/or lactation. Seventy five adult female Wistar rats divided into 3 groups of 25 each and their offsprings were used. The offspring of group 1 served as control, those of group 2 were exposed to 2 g/kg body weight of 30% ethanol (^v/_v) during pregnancy and lactation (APL) while those of group 3 were exposed to the same dose of ethanol during lactation only (AL). At Day (D) 7, 14, 21, 35 and 49 of postnatal life, 5 male offspring were randomly selected from the three groups and sacrificed. After the sacrifice, the two testes were dissected out and then prepared for routine histological evaluation. The result of the study showed that the seminiferous epithelia of the testes of the alcohol-exposed groups were characterized by few adluminal as well as defoliated germ cells. The result further showed significant reduction (P<0.05) in the diameter of the seminiferous tubules of the testes in alcohol-exposed groups. This histomorphometric effects which persisted into adulthood may have implications on the fertility of male offspring of dams who abuse alcohol during pregnancy and/or lactation.

Keywords: Alcohol, pregnancy, lactation, testes, histomorphometry, Wistar rats