The influence of protein malnutrition on the antifertility action of gossypol in the Trypanosoma brucei-infected rat: some ultrastructural observations from the testis.

The testes of adult male Wistar rats that were variously protein malnourished, gossypol treated, and/or trypanosome infected (Trypanosoma brucei) were evaluated ultrastructurally. The findings included several necrotic germ cells in the seminiferous epithelium and focal degeneration of Sertoli cells. Leydig cells showed a remarkable paucity of smooth endoplasmic reticulum, and aggregation of mitochondria. These observations were prevalent in those animals that were simultaneously protein-malnourished/gossypol treated/ trypanosome infected, and were either absent or markedly reduced in the other groups. These structural alterations are probably related to increased gossypol availability to the testis and/or represent the additive effects of gossypol and trypanosomes. Such tissue changes could compromise spermatogenesis in affected animals, and suggest that trypanosome infections may exacerbate testicular lesions in the gossypol-treated rat.