title: Impact of oxidative stress and supplementation with vitamins E and C on testes morphology in rats.
abstract: The aim of the study was to verify whether an increased supply of vitamins E and C prevents the detrimental effects of ozone on the testes. The experiment was performed on 5-month-old rats exposed to ozone (0.5 ppm) for 50 days (5 h daily). Simultaneously, the animals were injected with the vitamins in 5-day intervals and at different doses (0.5, 1.5, 4.5, 5 and 15 mg of vitamin E; 0.5, 3, 9, and 50 mg of vitamin C; or both vitamins together, respectively). Gonad sections were PAS stained. In the ozonized males, depletion of germ cells occurred. In the vitamin E groups, the testes were comparable to the controls, excluding the 0.5-mg-dose vitamin E group in which perivascular fibrosis and intertubular hyalinization were observed. In the vitamin C groups, intertubular hyalinization, partial arrested spermatogenesis, and desquamation of the seminiferous epithelium appeared proportional to the vitamin dose. Additionally, premature spermiation was found at a vitamin C dose of 50-mg. In the rats injected with both vitamins, hyalinization and fibrosis appeared in addition to partial arrest of spermatogenesis and vacuolar degeneration. In conclusion, vitamin E protects against the detrimental effects of ozone in rat testes irrespective of the dose applied. This was not observed for vitamin C. Moreover, administration of higher doses of vitamin C intensified the damage to the testes caused by ozone.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pathophysiology, Department of Pathology and Pharmacology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland. maried@uwm.edu.pl
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jedlinska-Krakowska
authors.forename: Grazyna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bomba
authors.forename: Karol
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jakubowski
authors.forename: Tadeusz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rotkiewicz
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jana
authors.forename: Aleksander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Penkowski
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000378:metabolism*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D008297:Male; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D010126:Ozone / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000633:toxicity; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D013091:Spermatogenesis; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000378:metabolism; D013737:Testis / Q000378:metabolism; D013997:Time Factors; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D014810:Vitamin E; D010126:Ozone; D001205:Ascorbic Acid