Lead toxicity and the hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axis
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1
Universite Es Senia, Laboratoire de Biochimie Appliquee, Departement de Biologie Faculte des Sciences , Algeria
Environmental exposure to toxic lead occurs in a number of industries with potential adverse effects on the reproductive capacity of exposed men. Clinical and animal studies indicate that abnormalities of spermatogenesis result from toxic lead exposure. The experiment were performed on 30 adult male rats divided in three equal groups and were orally given 250 mg/l and 500 mg/l of lead acetate diluted in mineral water by force feeding for 90 days and the other group was used as control. This study was designed to associated blood lead concentration and reproductive disorders. The results revealed a significant decrease in the weight of the testes, epididymides and pituitary. This reduction in weight of sex glands and pituitary was accompanied by an alteration of the normal histological structure. The results showed a significant (p < 0,001) reduce of epididymal and testicular sperm counts including daily sperm production. Moreover, lead obviously affected sperm density and sperm viability and a significant increase of sperm abnormalities in rats treated compared with the controls. We have observed a significant difference for circulating testosterone, LH and FSH following lead poisoning. Therefore, lead exposure resulted in oxidative stress and this was well extrapolated from the increase in lipid peroxidation products (LPP). The results indicate that there was a significant (p < 0,001) increase of (LPP) in exposed rats than their corresponding control both in pituitary testis, and epididymides. Results clearly show that lead has a deleterious impact on the reproductive system witch impairs hypothalamic-pituitary axis functions.
Keywords:
Fertility,
hypothalamic-pituitary axis,
Lead acetate,
Peroxidation,
Sperm cells
Conference:
3rd Mediterranean Conference of Neuroscience , Alexandria, Egypt, 13 Dec - 16 Dec, 2009.
Presentation Type:
Poster Presentation
Topic:
Imaging & Neuroendocrinology
Citation:
Hamadouche
NA
(2009). Lead toxicity and the hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axis.
Front. Neurosci.
Conference Abstract:
3rd Mediterranean Conference of Neuroscience .
doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.01.2009.16.162
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Received:
26 Nov 2009;
Published Online:
26 Nov 2009.
*
Correspondence:
Nadia A Hamadouche, Universite Es Senia, Laboratoire de Biochimie Appliquee, Departement de Biologie Faculte des Sciences, Oran, Algeria, naithamadouche@live.fr