Histological Studies of Testes in Rats Treated with Certain Insect Chemosterilants1

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Abstract
Research was initiated in 1966 to determine the histological effects of 3 insect chemosterilants on testicular tissue in male albino rats. The 3 compounds, hydroxyurea, triphenyltin acetate, and triphenyltin chloride, were administered orally to 20 rats each, at dosage rates of 40, 20, and 20 mg per kg per day, respectively, over a period of 19 days. Animals were killed on the 20th day, and histological preparations of the testes were made. Hydroxyurea produced no noticeable effects on testicular structure or on the general physiology of animals to which it was administered. However, treatment with the 2 tin compounds produced several degenerative changes in testicular tissue, including a decrease in the number of cell layers per seminiferous tubule, a decrease in tubule diameter and overall testicular size, a depletion of the more advanced cell forms from the tubules, and a closing of tubule lumina. Effects were more pronounced in rats treats with triphenyltin acetate.