ON TESTIS AND EPlDlDYMlS OF RATS - Pondicherry University ...

1958). A rapid fall in serum testosterone levels following bilateral orchidectomy has
been shown to caw prostate involution (Bruchovsky cl ul., 1975; Lee, 1981 ). Whilc
replacement of androgen exogenously has been to stimulate the prostate growth
(Bruchovsky er 01.. 1975).
A remarkable increase in total weight, contents of water, inorganic ions and
metabolic activity of seminal vesicles was induced by subcutaneous injection of
testosterone propionate to castrate rats (Rudolph and Samuel, 1949). Kidneys were
shown to have potential to respond to androgen stimulation for growth and metabolic
activities similar to accessory sex organs (Kochakian, 1977). Kidneys of the castrated
mice decreased in size by 30 to 50% in comparison to that of the intact animals.
Treatment with testosterone propionate restored the weights of the kidney to normal
range in the rats treated with cisplatin (Malarvizhi and Mathur, 1996). Testosterone
has been shown to stimulate compensatory hypertrophy of the kidney and ameliorate
renal dysfunction (de Ruiter, 1981). Androgen has been shown to produce a two to
five fold increase in the specific activity of the enzyme in mouse kidney (Bardin el
01. 1978).
1.3 Effect of environmental contaminants on male reproductive system
A large number of environmental contaminants have been shown to induce
reproductive abnormalities both in wildlife and humans (Carlsen el al., 1992; Shape,
1993). Mean sperm counts in men have been shown to decline in the past fifty years
(Carlsen el 01.. 1992). It has been hypothesized that environmental exposure to
synthetic estrogenic chem~cals nnd related endocrine octivc compounds may bc
rcsponsible for a global decrease in spcrnm counts and decreased male rcproduclivc
capacity (Fisher el at., 1999; Safe. 2000). The organochlorine compounds comprise
dichlorodiphenyl-trichloroethane (DD'T) and metabolites. hcxacl~lorocyclol~exill~c
(HCH). polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs)
and polychlorinated dibcnzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs). Due to their lipophilicity they
preferentially bio-accumulate in the adipose. tissue. The presence of' DI)T and