Abstract
Despite the vast amount of literature on studies about the use of reproductive toxicants in laboratory rats as models, there are no reports documenting the detection of direct sperm DNA damage in rats as a result of exposure to a reproductive toxicant. These studies were initiated to develop methodology for detecting and scoring oxidative sperm DNA damage in Wistar rats. The first of four experiments used the basic Comet Assay to compare sperm collected from xanthotoxin‐treated rats with sperm collected from untreated rats to determine if oxidative sperm DNA damage was detectable. No differences were found between images of sperm from treated and non‐treated samples. During Experiment 2, fresh sperm samples from untreated rats were stored in PBS and then reacted with a 100mg/ml solution of xanthotoxin/acetone. Post‐reaction cells were subjected to mechanical sample grinding or incubation with trypsin in an attempt to disrupt the cell capsule. Again, no differences were recorded. Experiment 3 exposed treat...
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