J Vet Sci.  2003 Apr;4(1):29-34.

Effects of Tributyltin Chloride on the Reproductive System in Pubertal Male Rats

• Yu WJ
• Nam SY
• Kim YC
• Lee BJ
• Yun YW

Abstract

Detrimental effects of tributyltin (TBT) chloride on the reproductive system were investigated in pubertal male rats. Sixty Sprague-Dawley rats aged with 35 days were assigned to six different groups; negative control receiving vehicle, positive control receiving methyltestosterone (10 mg/kg B.W.), TBT chloride (5 mg/kg B.W., 10 mg/kg B.W., and 20 mg/kg B.W.), and a combination of TBT chloride (10 mg/kg B.W.) and flutamide (10 mg/kg B.W). The animals were treated with test compounds by oral gavage daily for 10 days and sacrificed on the next day of the final treatment. The treatment with TBT chloride at the doses of 10 and 20 mg/kg B.W. significantly decreased seminal vesicle weights, compared to the negative control. The combined treatment of TBT chloride and flutamide caused a significant decrease in accessory sex organ weights, compared to the control and TBT chloride treatments. The treatment with TBT chloride or in the combination with flutamide increased detached debris and sloughed cells in the tubules of epididymis and narrowed seminal vesicles. In addition, the combined treatment with TBT chloride and flutamide caused a noticeable increase in serum androgen level, compared to the negative control.These results suggest that TBT chloride exposed during pubertal period cause partial reproductive disorders in male rats.

Keyword

accessory sex organ; flutamide; methyltestosterone; TBT chloride

MeSH Terms

Animals
Body Weight
Epididymis/drug effects
Flutamide/pharmacology
Genitalia, Male/*drug effects
Male
Methyltestosterone/pharmacology
Organ Size
Prostate/drug effects
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Seminal Vesicles/drug effects
*Sexual Maturation/drug effects
Testis/drug effects
Trialkyltin Compounds/*pharmacology