Effect of experimental diabetes mellitus of the mother on the morphological characteristics of spermatogenesis of the offspring

AIM: The work aimed to analyze the morphological and functional state of seminiferous epithelium in the offspring of female rats with experimental diabetes mellitus (DM). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Studies were conducted on white Wistar laboratory rats (females) with diabetes mellitus induced and their 70-day-old offspring. Diabetes mellitus was reproduced according to the generally accepted method using streptozotocin. The areas of parenchyma and stroma, the number and area of convoluted seminiferous tubules, the total count of spermatogenous cells and their subpopulation composition, and the count of Sertoli cells per one convoluted seminiferous tubule were determined on serial histological specimens of the testes of offspring of the DM mothers. A number of generally accepted indices were determined, including the spermatogenesis index, spermatogenesis relaxation index, and germinative index. RESULTS: The offspring of female rats with experimental DM has been established to have a decreased area of the testicular parenchyma and an increase of the area of its stroma, as well as a reduced total count of spermatogenic cells, including primitive sperm cells, primary and secondary spermatocytes, spermatids and, as a result, a decrease in the count of spermatozoa. The results are consistent with a decrease in the spermatogenesis index in the offspring of female rats with experimental DM. A study of the count of Sertoli cells in experimental animals did not reveal significant differences, however, an analysis of the germinative index and the spermatogenesis relaxation index revealed a significant decrease in these parameters in experimental animals compared to the control. CONCLUSIONS: Offspring with reduced generative function of the testes is born in female rats with experimental type 1 DM.