Organophosphorus compounds are widely used in industry, agriculture and for public health purposes. They are among the toxic compounds employed for insect control. The purpose of this work was to study histological, histochemical, as well as immunohistochemical changes that might occur in the testes of male Wistar rats because of chronic dimethoate intoxication. Treating rats with dimethoate (20 mg/kg) body weight daily for 15 and 30 days caused a decrease in number of germ cells, irregularity in of seminiferous tubules, loss of sperms, degeneration of interstitial cells and congestion of blood vessels. Moreover, reductions in total polysaccharides and in total proteins content were detected. Immunohistochemical results showed an increase in the expression of proapoptotic protein (Bax) and antiapoptotic protein (Bcl2).The results of this study confirmed that dimethoate seriously deteriorates the testes resulting in a decrease in fertility.
Key words: Dimethoate, Testis, Rats, Histology, Histochemistry, Immunohistochemistry
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