RESUMO
Zinc deficiency affects the testicular tissues adversely. The testes of zinc-deficient rats showed variable degrees of degeneration compared to both control and zinc-supplemented ones. Initially, there was an early pronounced spermatic arrest followed by a series of degeneration of the cellular layers constituting the seminiferous tubules in the zinc-deficient rats. Degenerative changes were additionally demonstrated in the interstitial tissue cells of the zinc-deficient rats. These histopathological observations in testes of zinc-deficient rats run in parallel provide an additional support to our previous publications in which we recorded a significant reduction in both serum and testicular levels of testosterone in the same group of animals, since spermatogenesis in rodents appeared to depend primarily on testosterone level.
