Testicular atrophy in Gallus domesticus fed acute doses of copper fungicides.

Acute oral toxicity of the copper fungicides, copper sulphate and copper oxychloride, were studied in male Gallus domesticus. The median lethal dose for copper sulphate and copper oxychloride determined were 693 and 1263 mg/kg body weight, respectively. Severe diarrhea and delayed mortality (3 to 6 days) was characteristic of copper oxychloride. Liver weights were nearly doubled in birds fed copper oxychloride and marked dose-dependent testicular atrophy was noticed in both copper sulphate and copper oxychloride fed birds. Mild to severe spermatogenetic arrest concomitant with testicular atrophy was observed. Histochemically, the interstitial (Leydig) cells and seminiferous tubules showed intense accumulation of cholesterol-positive lipids. The degree of lipophilia appeared to be directly proportional to the extent of spermatogenetic arrest, and these results are suggestive of steroidogenic inhibition in the Leydig cells of the atrophied testis.