Table 3.
Morphometry and stereology of tubular compartment of mice exposed to cadmium chloride (CdCl2) (n = 5 animals/group).
| Control | i.p. SD | Oral SD | Oral FD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Volume (mL) | ||||
| Tubule | 0.179 ± 0.015ª | 0.181 ± 0.021ª | 0.154 ± 0.016b | 0.151 ± 0.010b |
| Epithelium | 0.130 ± 0.010ª | 0.126 ± 0.014ab | 0.115 ± 0.014ab | 0.109 ± 0.008b |
| Tunica propria | 0.022 ± 0.002 | 0.021 ± 0.003 | 0.018 ± 0.003 | 0.018 ± 0.002 |
| Lumen | 0.027 ± 0.004ª | 0.034 ± 0.005b | 0.021 ± 0.001c | 0.024 ± 0.002ac |
| Tubular diameter (μm) | 225.11 ± 9.04 | 222.41 ± 11.36 | 226.81 ± 11.0 | 215.27 ± 14.86 |
| Lumen diameter (μm) | 74.19 ± 3.89 | 75.42 ± 6.39 | 80.21 ± 5.31 | 83.23 ± 7.70 |
| Epithelium height (μm) | 150.92 ± 6.86ª | 146.99 ± 11.10ªb | 146.60 ± 5.88a | 132.04 ± 10.77b |
| STAr (mm2) | 0.0398 ± 0.0032 | 0.0389 ± 0.0040 | 0.0404 ± 0.0039 | 0.0365 ± 0.0050 |
| LAr (mm2) | 0.0043 ± 0.0004 | 0.0045 ± 0.0007 | 0.0051 ± 0.0007 | 0.0053 ± 0.0010 |
| EAr (mm2) | 0.0355 ± 0.0029 | 0.0344 ± 0.0038 | 0.0354 ± 0.0033 | 0.0311 ± 0.0044 |
| TER | 1.12 ± 0.01ª | 1.13 ± 0.03ª | 1.14 ± 0.01a | 1.17 ± 0.03b |
| STL (m) | 4.50 ± 0.31 | 4.71 ± 0.85 | 3.83 ± 0.38 | 4.20 ± 0.58 |
| STL/g (m/g) | 20.58 ± 2.28 | 21.68 ± 2.60 | 20.42 ± 2.23 | 23.24 ± 3.07 |
Mean ± SDM (standard deviation of the mean); control: distilled water; i.p. SD: CdCl2 intraperitoneal single dose; oral SD: CdCl2 oral single dose; oral FD: CdCl2 oral fractionated dose; STAr: seminiferous tubule area; LAr: lumen area; EAr: epithelium area; TER: tubule epithelium ratio; STL: seminiferous tubule length; STL/g: seminiferous tubule length per gram of testis. abDifferent letters in the same row, for each evaluated time, indicate significant differences by the Student-Newman-Keuls test (p ≤ 0.05).