Effect of reserpine on growth and sexual development of chickens.

One-month-old male chickens were given injections of 1 mg, 2 mg and 4 mg/kg of reserpine. The injections were repeated at weekly intervals for three months. The chickens receiving reserpine grew at half the rate of untreated control chickens and failed to grow combs. At 4 months of age the testes of reserpine-treated chickens were only about one-tenth the weight of the testes of the control chickens and histologically they showed extreme hypoplasia of the seminiferous tubules. Two large doses of reserpine one month apart could cause atrophy of the testes of adult roosters.