Effects of emissions from forest fires on the morphofunctional state of reproductive system of white rats

Abstract

Introduction. At present, considering active participation of people in the elimination of wildfires, the study of the effects of smoke on the reproductive system is an urgent scientific problem.Materials and methods. Sexually mature outbred male rats were exposed to a daily four-hour inhalation exposure to smoke for one month. Immediately after the end of the exposure, some of the animals were removed from the experiment, and some were left to survive for two months. The study on testicular samples included counting the total number of spermatogonia, the number of tubules with desquamated epithelium, as well as determining the spermatogenesis index and the number of Leydig cells.Results. The effect of forest fire smoke on the reproductive system of model animals (outbred laboratory rats, males) was characterized by a decrease in the spermatogenesis index with a simultaneous decrease in the percentage of spermatogonia and the number of Leydig interstitial cells. The indices of the reproductive system of animals left for survival did not differ from the control values.Discussion. The results of this study suggest that prolonged exposure to combustion products released during a forest fire negatively affects the reproductive function of male laboratory rats examined immediately after the end of the exposure. After the course of the standard cycle of spertatogenesis, the indicators characterizing the development of sperm and the generation of male sex hormones are restored to normal, which indicates a high plasticity of the male reproductive system in response to the adverse environmental factor – smoke of forest fires.