Comparison of sensitivities of rat spermatozoa, Sertoli and Leydig cells to gossypol acetic acid in vitro by LD50
Abstract
Rat epididymal spermatozoa, Sertoli and Leydig cells in culture were used to examine the direct effects of gossypol. The numbers of live spermatozoa were decreased drastically following 8 h incubation with increasing concentrations of gossypol up to 20 microg/ml, whereas the other cell types, especially the Leydig cells, were slightly affected in the same condition. By comparing the LD50, the epididymal spermatozoa were most sensitive while the Leydig cells the least. There were no differences in responsiveness of the 3 types of cells to gossypol 40 microg/ml.
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