Morphometric study of the reversibility of testicle alterations in rats submitted to hypervitaminosis A

In a previous paper, Lamano Carvalho et al. [4] demonstrated that administration of excess vitamin A doses to adult rats causes decreased testicle mass, focal lesions in the seminal tubule epithelium, and reduction in the relative volume of interstitial tissue and in the nuclear volumes of Leydig cells. The hypervitaminotic animals also showed alterations in the rhythm of spermatogenesis and reduced hypophysary LH levels. In order to determine the possible reversibility of these alterations, the authors allowed the hypervitaminotic animals to recover for 50 or 100 days. After both recovery periods. the focal lesions in the germinal epithelium were still unreversed. On the other hand, the nuclear volume of Leydig cells and the rhythm of spermatogenesis, as well as hypophysary LH levels reverted to normal during the 50 day recovery period.