ABSTRACT
Induction of possible male sterility in laboratory rats by gossypol was examined by microscopic observations on sperm motility, sperm morphology following silver staining, and meiosis. The rats were force-fed with gossypol acetate once with 400mg/kg body weight. In a span of 2-5 weeks post-feeding, a marked reduction of sperm motility was observed with a concurrent increase of abnormal spermatozoa Silver staining of the spermatozoa showed various tail abnormalities, including disrupted connecting piece, bent tails, looped tails, and cracked midpiece, Sperm head structure appeared to be not affected. Beginning 6 weeks post-feeding, there was a complete recovery. Short-term in vitro experiments showed similar but weaker response. In all samples, histologieal sections and cytogenetic preparations of testes revealed no abnormalities in the activity and normally of meiotic divisions. In animals 2-4 weeks after feeding with gossypol, no argentophilic accessary structures in developing mammalian spermatids were observed.