ABSTRACT
Thirty CD-1 male mice were randomly allocated to one of three groups and treated daily for five consecutive days via intraperitoneal (IP) injections. Treatments consisted of: 1) control (vehicle), consisting of 0.2 ml dose of phosphate buffered saline, 2) 1.0 mg of Mitomycin C (MC) per kg body weight, and 3) 2.0 mg of MC per kg body weight. All animals were sacrificed 35 days post-initiation of the experiment. Mice administered the higher dose of MC died within the first 19 days after the first injection. Significant differences (P less than 0.001) were observed between the two remaining groups in daily sperm production potential, sperm count per high power field, percent motility and progressive motility. Histological preparation of testicular parenchymal tissue revealed a high degree of seminiferous epithelial destruction and increased vacuolization associated with treatment of MC. These data indicate that MC causes severe pathological changes to spermatogonial cells within the seminiferous tubules, which in turn, induce spermatogenic dysfunctions noted in all parameters measured in this study.
