Effects of sonication on mature rat testes.

Exposure of rat testes to high-frequency sound waves temporarily interrupted the spermatogenic process. Rats treated with 1 watt/sq cm for 10 minutes exhibited a degeneration of advanced germinal cells and were incapable of impregnating females for 150 days. Forty-eight hours after sonication, spermatocytes and spermatids developed irregular membranes and released their contents into theinterstitium. Spermatogonia, Sertoli cells, and Leydig cells appeared normal, and no genetic anomalies could be detected in the progeny of treated animals. It was hypothesized that the reduction in sperm count was due to changes in membrane permeability which produced conditions unfavorable to maturation of testicular cells.