Organophosphorus compounds are widely
used in industry, agricul ture and for publ ic
heal th purposes. They are among the toxic
compounds employed for insect control.
The purpose of this work was to study
histological , histochemical , as wel l as
immunohistochemical changes that might
occur in the testes of male Wistar rats
because of chronic dimethoate intoxication.
Treating rats wi th dimethoate (20 mg/kg)
body weight daily for 15 and 30 days caused
a decrease in number of germ cells,
irregulari ty in of seminiferous tubules, loss
of sperms, degeneration of intersti tial cells
and congestion of blood vessels. Moreover,
reductions in total polysaccharides and in
total proteins content were detected.
Immunohistochemical results showed an
increase in the expression of proapoptotic
protein (Bax) and antiapoptotic protein
(Bcl2).The resul ts of this study confirmed
that dimethoate seriously deteriorates the
testes resulting in a decrease in fertility.