Effects of low doses of alpha chlorohydrin on the dehydrogenases and oxidases of rat epididymal epithelium and sperms: a correlative histochemical and biochemical study.

Histochemical studies have been made of the isocitrate dehydrogenase, succinic dehydrogenase, malate dehydrogenase, glutamate dehydrogenase, DPN diaphorase, TPN diaphorase, delta 5-3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and monoamine oxidase in the caput, corpus and cauda epididymides of normal and alpha chlorohydrin (6.5 mg/kg/9 days) treated rats. Administration of alpha chlorohydrin in a low dose caused a conspicuous decrease in all these enzymes except delta 5-3 beta-HSD, in various cell types of epididymal epithelium and sperms. Biochemical estimations of isocitrate dehydrogenase, succinic dehydrogenase, malate dehydrogenase and delta 5-3 beta-HSD have further supported and confirmed these histochemical observations. These changes in enzyme activities after treatment with low dose of alpha chlorohydrin strongly suggest that TCA cycle and amino acid metabolism of epididymis become defective, much earlier before any histological damage to the epididymis becomes visible.