Morphometric Studies of Testes in Fetal Alcohol Syndrome of Mice

Abstract

An investigation was conducted to determine the effect of maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy on the morphometry of testes of mice. Two groups of mice comprising of 12 females and 6 males were used. The offspring of group 1 served as control while those of group 2 were exposed to alcohol during gestation period. From 1-6 weeks of age, 10 male offspring were randomly selected from the two groups and sacrificed by severing the spinal cord at the atlanto-occipital joint. Following sacrifice, the testes were prepared for routine histological examination. Morphometric analysis showed reduced seminiferous tubular diameter in the testes exposed to alcohol during pregnancy when compared with the controls. The investigation has therefore demonstrated that maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy affects the size of seminiferous tubules.