Ultrastructure of the testis in rats with blood hypertension induced by long-term lead exposure.

Male Sprague-Dawley rats received 60 micrograms/ml of lead (as acetate) in drinking water for 18 months. Their blood pressure and cardiac inotropism were increased. Lead was augmented in blood, kidney and brain, but not in testis. Examination by light microscopy of the organs did not reveal alterations. Ultrastructural examination of the testis with both transmission and scanning electron microscopy (EM) did not evidence modifications in the external part of the seminiferous tubules, in the spermatogenetic cells and in the connective tissue including the Leydig cells; only Sertoli cells presented increased size of lysosomes.

Effects of long-term cadmium exposure on the testis of rabbits: ultrastructural study.

Six male rabbits received for 9 months drinking water containing 20 micrograms/ml of cadmium (Cd). At the end of the treatment, the Cd contents of kidney and testis were 175 +/- 34 and 0.8 +/- 0.2 micrograms/g wet weight, respectively. Ultrastructural examination by transmission electron microscopy (EM) showed that, in the Sertoli cells, the size of the lysosomes was increased; spermatogenetic cells, vessels and Leydig cells showed no significant alterations. Observations with both transmission and scanning EM did not evidence changes in the blood-testis barrier, but our results do not exclude that male fertility may be affected by chronic exposure to cadmium.

[Chronic exposure to arsenic in rats: morphological and functional findings]. / L'esposizione cronica ad arsenico nel ratto: riscontri morfologici e funzionali.

Male Sprague-Dawley rats, who had received 50 micrograms/ml of arsenic (as sodium arsenate) in drinking water for 320 days, showed high urinary excretion of this element. Arsenic was accumulated in tissues, mostly in the kidney and in the liver. In the kidney were evident slight focal alterations in tubules and glameruli; some of the tubules contained casts of amorphous hyaline material. The hepatocytes close to the centrolobular veins were swollen and showed ultrastructural alterations. The seric GOT, GPT and LDH activities were normal, while the alkaline phosphatase alto have been found in the brain, sciatic nerve, lung, heart and arteries. No significant changes of systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels were observed. Similarly, cardiac inotropism and chronotropism were unchanged. The electrocardiogram, also, was normal. The cardiovascular reactivity to noradrenaline, acetylcholine, histamine, serotonin, bradykinin and angiotensin II was unchanged. However, the vascular reactivity to the beta-stimulation was increased, while it was decreased to the angiotensin I. On the whole, our results suggest that chronic arsenic exposure produces focal alterations in the kidney and characteristic modifications in the hepatic structure and in the cardiovascular reactivity.