Histological Study of the Toxic Effects of Solder Fumes on Spermatogenesis in Rats

oleh: Ramazan Mirzaei, Mehdi Jahantigh, Rezvaneh Mashhadi, Mohammad Hossein Heidari, Mohammad Reza Arab

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: Royan Institute (ACECR), Tehran 2011-01-01

Deskripsi

Objective: Toxic fumes generated during the soldering process contain various contaminantsreleased at sufficient rates to cause both short- and long-term health problems.Studies have shown that these fumes change the quality and quantity of semen fluid in exposedworkers. The aim of the present study was to determine the potentially toxic effectsof solder fumes on spermatogenesis in seminiferous tubules of rats as an experimentalmodel, with conditioned media in an exposed chamber.Materials and Methods: A total number of 48 male Sprague Dawley adult rats wererandomly divided into experimental (n=30) and control (n=18) groups. Based on exposuretime, each group was further subdivided into two, four and six subgroups. Rats in the experimentalgroups were exposed to solder fumes in an exposure chamber for one hour/day. The concentrations of fumes [formaldehyde, stanum (Sn) and lead (Pb)] were measuredby a standard method via atomic absorption and spectrophotometry. According to atimetable, under deep anesthesia, the rats of both experimental and control subgroupswere killed. After fixation of testes, specimens were weighed and routinely processed.Paraffin sections were stained by hematoxylin and eosin. Spermiogenesis index was calculatedand data analyzed by Mann Whitney NPAR test.Results: Analysis of air samples in the exposure chamber showed the following fumeconcentrations: 0.193 mg/m3 for formaldehyde, 0.35 mg/m3 for Sn and 3 mg/m3 for Pb.Although there was no significant difference in testes weight between control and experimentalsubgroups, there was only a significant difference in spermiogenesis indexbetween the six week experimental and control subgroups (p<0.02).Conclusion: The results of this study showed that solder fumes can change the spermiogenesisindex in experimental groups in a time dependent manner.