Testicular effects of bis(2-methoxyethyl) ether in the adult male rat.

The onset of testicular pathology in the rat and possible recovery over an 8-week period were evaluated after the administration of up to 20 daily oral doses of bis(2-methoxyethyl) ether (diglyme) at 5.1 mmol/kg bw (684 mg/kg bw). Primary and secondary spermatocyte degeneration and spermatidic giant cells were observed after six to eight treatments. In addition, the testes-to-body weight ratio was significantly reduced by the tenth day of treatment and continued to be depressed eight weeks after discontinuation of the treatment. Testicular LDH-X activity, a pachytene spermatocyte marker enzyme, was significantly decreased in animals by the eighteenth day of treatment with diglyme.