[Pathomorphologic changes in the testes of rats fed gamma ray irradiated products]

A study was made of morphological changes in the testes of 120 rats fed for 20 months only food exposed to gamma-rays. Pronounced alterative-dystrophic disorders up to foci of coagulation necrosis and aspermatogenesis as well as compensatory-adaptation processes such as proliferation of Leydig cells were found. A direct correlation was disclosed between the severity of structural alterations in the testes and the dose of gamma-rays to which the products used for animals' feeding had been exposed. A suggestion is made about the autoimmune mechanism of structural alterations discovered.