Evaluating the Anti-Fertility Potential of α-Chlorohydrin on Testis and Spermatozoa in the Adult Male Wild Indian House Rat (Rattus rattus)

Abstract

To examine the effects of α-chlorohydrin on testis and cauda epididymis in the male house rat (Rattus rattus), 24 adult male rats were segregated into two groups. Group I rats were force-fed daily by intragastric intubation with α-chlorohydrin at a single dose of 1.0 mg/100 g body weight/d for 5, 15, and 45 days. Another group was fed with distilled water, which served as the control. The treated male rats were paired with 24 adult proestrus female rats for 5 days after the last oral treatment and fertility was tested. At the end of the experiments, all of the male rats were weighed and killed by cervical dislocation. The right testes were removed, weighed, and processed for ultrastructural changes of spermatozoa from the cauda epididymis and testis under scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The seminiferous tubular area, nuclear diameter of the Sertoli and Leydig cells, percentage of spermatogonia, primary spermatocytes, secondary spermatocytes, spermatids, spermatozoa, and Sertoli cells in each group were compared morphometrically. Our results showed that the percentages of primary spermatocytes steadily increased from 5 to 15 days, but primary and secondary spermatocytes decreased significantly at 45 days. There was a steady decline in the percentages of spermatozoa and spermatids at all fixation intervals in the treated animals, but the percentages of spermatogonia and Sertoli cells increased significantly at 15 and 45 days. Seminiferous tubular areas, nuclear diameter of Leydig and Sertoli cells, and fertility rates were reduced after 45 days of treatment. SEM and TEM studies revealed severe morphological abnormalities in the spermatozoa, including deglutination of the acrosomal part, loss of head capsules, and fragmentation of tail fibrils. There was an enhanced anti-fertility effect and a lower number of implantation sites in the rats treated for 5 days. Our results validate α-chlorohydrin as a successful anti-fertility agent that prevents spermatogenesis.