title: Automated analysis of toxicant-induced changes in rat sperm head morphometry.
abstract: An automated sperm morphometry analysis (ASMA) instrument was developed to obtain measurements of toxicant-induced changes in rat sperm head morphometry. 1,3-dinitrobenzene (1,3-DNB), a testicular toxicant known to affect sperm parameters, was used. Twelve-week-old Sprague-Dawley rats were allocated to a control (C) and to two 1,3-DNB treatment groups (T1 = 15 mg/kg; T2 = 25 mg/kg). 1,3-DNB was administered as a single dose by gavage, and animals were sacrificed 22 days after exposure. Sperm were collected, and morphology smears were made by a standard method. One hundred sperm heads were digitized on each slide, and 8 metric measurements were automatically reported. All measurements tended to decrease in a dose-dependent manner with increasing doses of 1,3-DNB. All values for total width (Wa) and interior width (W(e)) were significantly different from one another. Wa/L was significantly larger in the control than in T1 or T2, and symmetry (S = Wb/Wa) was significantly smaller in the control than in T1 or T2. Multivariate cluster analysis revealed three subpopulations that were also visually distinct. Subpopulation no. 1 was normal, based on published descriptions of normal rat sperm; subpopulation no. 2 was abnormal with a flattened curvature and a normal length; subpopulation no. 3 was abnormal with a foreshortened length and a flattened curvature. T1 and T2 contained significantly more sperm from subpopulation no. 2 and no. 3 than C (T1 = 22% and T2 = 34% vs. C = 8% by cluster analysis). C had 93% normal sperm, while the treatments had 78% and 66%, respectively.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of California, Davis 95616.
authors.forename: R O
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: C G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Gravance
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Thal
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004136:Dinitrobenzenes / Q000633:toxicity; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013077:Sperm Head / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D004136:Dinitrobenzenes; C017906:3-dinitrobenzene