ABSTRACT
The evaluation of epididymal sperm infrastructure in chronic alcohol-consuming rats. 16 male mature Wistar rats with the same age of 10 weeks were categorized into two different groups. Control group included 8 rats allowed free access to rat chow and water. Experimental group included 8 rats with free access to rat chow and 5% ethanol in the same volume [50 cc daily] as controls that received water. After 30 days, epididymal spermatozoa from two groups were aspirated for sperm electron microscopic study. No ultrastructural changes were observed in control group. In experimental animals, most of spermatozoa showed several alternations in their ultrastructures. Anomalies such as abnormal nuclear chromatin density, swollen area, rupture and lysis of plasmalemma, persistence of numerous cytoplasmic droplets, mitochondrial swelling and vaculization, absence of axonemal microtubules, complete degeneration of axoneme, deletion of one or more outer dense fibers as well as absence of tail plasmalemma were seen in majority of the alcohol-treated spermatozoa. Spermatozoa from alcohol consuming rats show spectrum of anomalies in their head, middle and principle piece of tail. These may be one of the possible causes of subfertility or infertility due to alcohol consumption
ABSTRACT
The effects of chronic SCI on ultrastructure of spermatozoa aspirated from epididymis of rats. 45 adults Wistar rats were divided into 3 groups of SCI, control and sham. Following laminectomy, SCI was induced with a 15g weight dropped from a distance of 10 cm, onto exposed dura matter at T10 level. Sham group underwent laminectomy of T10 only, while control was not exposed to any types of injury or medication. The epididymal sperms were aspirated after 8 weeks in each groups for transmission electron microscopy [TEM] preparation. After primary and secondary fixations, dehydration and embedding, and ultrathin sections were collected on grids and stained by uranyl acetate and lead citrate, the samples were examined with TEM. In electron microscopic study, no ultrastructural changes were observed in sham or control groups. In SCI animals, the majority of spermatozoa showed several alternations such as swollen area, rupture and lysis of plasmalemma, disintegration of acrosomal membranes, persistence of numerous cytoplasmic droplets, mitochondrial swelling, absence of axonemal microtubules, complete degeneration of axoneme, deletion of one or more outer dense fibers, absence of tail plasmalemma, reduction of nuclear electron density, irregularities in tail architecture, formation of apoptotic vacuels and necrotic changes in heads and tails in their ultrastructures. Our electron microscopic study showed that following chronic SCI, several ultrastructure abnormalities developed in epididymal sperms. These changes may impair sperm quality and directly reduce the fertility potentiality after SCI