Morphometric and stereological analysis of rat testis and epididymis in an early phase of saturnism.

Adult male Wistar rats were poisoned by ad libitum ingestion of lead acetate at concentrations of 0.5 g/l and 1.0 g/l in drinking water, for 90 days. Blood lead exhibited a significant increase in both treated groups. A decrease in haematocrit and haemoglobin, together with a rise in glucose levels, confirmed lead intoxication. No signs of lesion were detected upon histological examination of testes, caput and cauda epididymidis. In this early phase of intoxication, no alteration occurred in the seminiferous tubule diameter, in the germinal epithelium height, nor in the rate of spermatogenesis and the production of spermatozoa. The caput epididymidis also showed no structural change. In the cauda epididymidis, however, an increase in ductal diameter, and a decrease in epithelial height, were observed. The concentration of spermatozoa stored in the caudal region of the epididymis exhibited a significant increase in lead-treated animals. The results, which reveal an early involvement of cauda epididymidis in lead intoxication, are discussed in terms of a disturbance in the neuroendocrine mechanism controlling the multiple epididymal functions.