Histologic changes in the mouse testis after treatment with gossypol tetra-acetic acid

The effect of oral administrations (20 or 40 mg/kg body weight/day, for 21 days) of gossypol tetraacetic acid on the testis of the Parkes strain mouse was investigated. Gossypol treatment did not affect the body weight or testicular weight, but caused a significant depression in the weight of the seminal vesicle. Histologically, the testes in mice treated with gossypol possessed regressed seminiferous tubules showing the exfoliation of germ cells, the occurrence of giant cells, a disorganization of the germinal epithelium, the degeneration of germinal elements, intraepithelial vacuolation and dislocation of the Sertoli cells into the luminal portion. However, the effect of gossypol was not uniform, and normal features were also observed in the majority of the tubules in the testes of the gossypol-treated mice. When quantitatively analysed, the frequency of regressed seminiferous tubules was significantly higher in the testes in the treated mice than the controls. The results suggest that the gossypol treatment induces non-uniform regressive changes in the seminiferous tubules in the mouse testis.