Reversible Testis Injury in the Vitamin E-deficient Hamster

Syrian hamsters fed four different vitamin E-deficient diets from the time of weaning showed, after 60 days or more, progressive testicular atrophy. Histologically, there was a decrease in size of seminiferous tubules, reduced spermatogenic activity, marked thinning of the germinal epithelium, loss of orderly arrangement of germ cells, and accumulation of acid-fast pigment in Sertoli cells. In 75 hamsters, comparisons were made between the histology of one testis and epididymis surgically ablated after 75–160 days and the other organs obtained at necropsy after 10, 20, 30, and 40 days of vitamin E therapy. Daily oral supplements of 2 mg of d-α-tocopheryl acetate proved marginally beneficial, whereas supplements of 10 mg daily were highly effective in repairing the germinal epithelium, in causing the reappearance of spermatozoa in ducts of the epididymis, and in removing acid-fast pigment. The testis injury in the vitamin E-deficient hamster, with respect to both the degenerative changes in the germinal epithelium and their repairability after vitamin E therapy, stand in striking contrast with the irrevocable testis injury characteristic of the vitamin E-deficient rat.