TY - JOUR
T1 - Toluene inhalation induced epididymal sperm dysfunction in rats
AU - Ono, Atsushi
AU - Kawashima, Kunio
AU - Sekita, Kiyoshi
AU - Hirose, Akihiko
AU - Ogawa, Yukio
AU - Saito, Minoru
AU - Naito, Katsushi
AU - Yasuhara, Kazuo
AU - Kaneko, Toyozo
AU - Furuya, Tsuyoshi
AU - Inoue, Tohru
AU - Kurokawa, Yuji
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare.
PY - 1999/12/6
Y1 - 1999/12/6
N2 - Toluene is a widely abused inhaled solvent. This study was designed to determine whether toluene abuse affects the reproductive functions or general health of males. Seven-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to toluene vapor inhalation (0, 4000, or 6000 ppm; 2 h/day) daily for 5 weeks. Exposure-related suppression of body weight gain and food consumption were observed. Salivation and lacrimation were observed during exposure periods and intensified with repeated exposure. Rats exposed to 6000 ppm toluene had decreased spleen and thymus weights, as well as suppressed lymphocyte counts. In 6000 ppm group, the epididymal sperm counts, sperm motility, sperm quality and in vitro penetrating ability to zona-free hamster eggs were significantly reduced, while no exposure-related changes in the testes weight or spermatogenesis within testes were detected. Tail-less sperm heads were seen within zona-free eggs incubated with sperm from rats exposed to 6000 ppm toluene, but not control rats. No significant changes were observed in serum luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, or testosterone levels following 1 month of exposure to 6000 ppm toluene. These results indicate that high concentrations of toluene may directly target sperm in the epididymis and disrupt sperm maturation.
AB - Toluene is a widely abused inhaled solvent. This study was designed to determine whether toluene abuse affects the reproductive functions or general health of males. Seven-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to toluene vapor inhalation (0, 4000, or 6000 ppm; 2 h/day) daily for 5 weeks. Exposure-related suppression of body weight gain and food consumption were observed. Salivation and lacrimation were observed during exposure periods and intensified with repeated exposure. Rats exposed to 6000 ppm toluene had decreased spleen and thymus weights, as well as suppressed lymphocyte counts. In 6000 ppm group, the epididymal sperm counts, sperm motility, sperm quality and in vitro penetrating ability to zona-free hamster eggs were significantly reduced, while no exposure-related changes in the testes weight or spermatogenesis within testes were detected. Tail-less sperm heads were seen within zona-free eggs incubated with sperm from rats exposed to 6000 ppm toluene, but not control rats. No significant changes were observed in serum luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, or testosterone levels following 1 month of exposure to 6000 ppm toluene. These results indicate that high concentrations of toluene may directly target sperm in the epididymis and disrupt sperm maturation.
KW - Epididymal sperm maturation
KW - Fertility
KW - Inhalation
KW - Toluene abuse
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U2 - 10.1016/S0300-483X(99)00120-1
DO - 10.1016/S0300-483X(99)00120-1
M3 - Article
C2 - 10647920
AN - SCOPUS:0032712065
SN - 0300-483X
VL - 139
SP - 193
EP - 205
JO - Toxicology
JF - Toxicology
IS - 3
ER -