Evaluation of reproductive toxicity of potassium chromate in male mice

Helena Oliveira , Marcello Spanò , Miguel Angel Guevara , Teresa Margarida Santos , C. Conceição Santos , Maria de Lourdes Pereira

To evaluate the effects of potassium chromate on mice sperm cells after a short term exposure, male ICR-CD1 mice were administered with 5 or 10mgKCrO/bw for four consecutive days. One group of mice was sacrificed at day 5, starting from the beginning of the experiment and another group was sacrificed at day 35. Testis and epididymis histology was evaluated by light microscopy and testicular cells populations were evaluated by flow cytometry (FCM). Spermatozoa were collected from the epididymis and sperm cell's morphology and several functional parameters (density, motility, viability, mitochondrial function, acrosome integrity) were evaluated. Furthermore, DNA fragmentation and chromatin status of sperm cells were assessed at both experimental periods.

Mots clés: Potassium chromate; Function of sperm cells; Acrosome; DNA damage of sperm cells; Tubular diameter; Testicular toxicity; Flow cytometry; Histopathology

Helena Oliveira, Marcello Spanò, Miguel Angel Guevara, Teresa Margarida Santos, C. Conceição Santos, et al.. Evaluation of reproductive toxicity of potassium chromate in male mice. Experimental and Toxicologic Pathology, 2010, 62 (4), pp.391. ⟨10.1016/j.etp.2009.05.009⟩. ⟨hal-00598181⟩