Effect of selenium-rich wheat on rat spermatogenesis

Wheat cultivated in seleniferous soils of some districts of Punjab/India contained on an average 12.5 ppm selenium. These grains when fed for 4 weeks to laboratory rats, were found to cause reduction of testicular weights and interruption of spermatogenesis. Seminiferous tubules were severely affected and contained spermatogenic cells at different stages of regression. The population of spermatids was first to be affected as they showed clumping leading to the formation of giant cells. Interstitial tissue in the testes of rats fed on seleniferous wheat grains appeared oedematous and widened than that of controls. The results, therefore, revealed that selenium toxicity, in addition to its known effects in female rats, has an adverse effect on reproduction in the male rats.