OBSERVATIONS ON CADMIUM DAMAGE AND REPAIR IN RAT TESTES AND THE EFFECTS ON THE PITUITARY GONADOTROPHS

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Abstract
SUMMARY: Cadmium chloride, in a single subcutaneous injection, can destroy spermatogenic and interstitial cells in the rat testis (Pařízek, 1957) and produce changes in the pituitary. The interstitial tissue is restored by ingrowths from the tunica and full androgen secretion returns before there is any regeneration of germinal epithelium. A cytological study has been made of the peripheral and central pituitary gonadotrophs; the latter revert almost to normal as the interstitial tissue regenerates, whereas the former retain characteristic castration features, unless there is also regeneration of the germinal epithelium. This seems to indicate that in the normal testis there is a hormone contribution from the seminiferous tubules as well as from the interstitial cells. The long-term effects of cadmium on the testis depend on the dose. Early stages of tubule restoration have been studied, but after administration of 0·9 mg., actual proliferation of the germinal epithelium was rarely found—only in four out of twenty rats, 113 or 142 days after injection.