چکیده (انگلیسی):

Objective: To investigate the effects of prenatal progesterone exposure of male rats on
testicular morphometry and histology.
Methods: Twenty male Wizard rats born to dams treated with hydroxyprogesterone
hexanoate (HPH) during the first 2 weeks of gestation were employed to evaluate the
effects of HPH on testicular morphometry, histology and cells quantities. Twenty male
rats born to untreated dams were used as control. The rats were kept until they reached 90
days old, sacrificed, testes dissected, weighed and their dimensions recorded. Histological
sections were prepared and stained with H & E. The diameter of the seminiferous tubule
(ST), height of germinal epithelium, and thickness of the interstitial space (IS) were
measured microscopically. Furthermore testicular cells were quantified.
Results: The results showed that experimental rats had significantly (P < 0.001) different
testicular morphometry, histology and cells quantities compared to the control. The
histological sections taken from testes of experiment group showed ST with unusual
configuration, detached and/or folded basal lamina, thin germinal layer, wide IS with few
LC, Sertoli cells (SC) experienced varying degrees of apoptosis and the lumen of ST
contained cells debris and very rare few sperms.
Conclusions: Prenatal HPH exposure of male rats adversely affects their testicular
morphometry and histological structure and presumably has crucial negative effects on
their future fecundity.