Effect of vitamin B12-deficiency on testicular tissue in rats fed by pair-feeding.
The effect of vitamin B12 (B12)-deficiency on testicular tissue was investigated through morphological observations of the rats which had been fed on a B12-deficient soybean protein diet by pair-feeding for 100 days. Testicular B12 content was depressed distinctly by the deficiency. Testes weight and their relative weight (weight per 100 g body weight) as well, decreased significantly as compared with those of pair-feeding control rats. Although the decrease in the testicular B12 content due to B12-deficiency was compensated by the administration of cyanocobalamin (CN-B12), alleviation of the decrease in testes weight and relative testes weight was not observed under the condition of the short-term CN-B12 administration. Morphological observations of the testicular tissue in B12-deficient rats revealed atrophy of the seminiferous tubules and aplasia of sperms and spermatids, while testicular findings in both ad libitum-feeding control rats and pair-feeding control rats were normal. There was a tendency for the decrease in seminiferous tubules showing spermatogenesis to be alleviated by administration of CN-B12. The above results indicate that the morphological changes in the testicular tissue are ascribable to B12-deficiency.
Kawata
T
T
Faculty of Education, Okayama University, Japan.
Tamiki
A
A
Tashiro
A
A
Suga
K
K
Kamioka
S
S
Yamada
K
K
Wada
M
M
Tanaka
N
N
Tadokoro
T
T
Maekawa
A
A
D000818:Animals; D001284:Atrophy; D004032:Diet; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012671:Seminiferous Tubules / Q000473:pathology; D030262:Soybean Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage; D013076:Sperm Count; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000473:pathology; D013737:Testis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D014805:Vitamin B 12 / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014806:Vitamin B 12 Deficiency / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*
D030262:Soybean Proteins; D014805:Vitamin B 12