Apoptosis in male germinal line cells of rat in vivo: caused by phosphamidon.

When Wistar strain male albino rats were fed on drinking water containing phosphamidon at 35 ppm concentration for 30 days, the spermatogenic compartment of the testis underwent histopathological changes. Differentiating spermatids and fully differentiated spermatozoa were rare or absent. Uni- and multinucleate giant cells appeared in the epithelium as well as the lumen. Semithin sections of resin-embedded tissues revealed that such cells had a typical apoptotic morphology. These cells were traceable to the caput and cauda epididymidal duct, and in the latter they appeared to fragment into apoptotic bodies. The male reproductive toxicity of phosphamidon leading to death and removal of the spermatogenic line cells through apoptosis is described. It is suggested that plastic embedding and semithin sectioning are appropriate methodologies to identify apoptotic cells in histological preparations viewed by light microscopy.