MORPHOLOGICAL FEATURES OF FORMATION OF THE ENDOCRINE COMPONENT OF THE TESTIS OF RATS IN EARLY POSTNATAL ONTOGENESIS UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF SALTS OF HEAVY METALS

The article presentsresults of the study of seminal gland tissue of 128 male rats of neonatal, lactation, infantile and juvenile age periods. Our aim was to investigate the morphological features of the formation of immature testicular endocrine system of rats in early postnatal ontogenesis under the influence of salts of heavy metals (HMS), and in terms of correction with L-carnitine. The animals were divided into two groups: the control and experimental. The controls involved: a subgroup 1 ? intact rats treated with distilled water; and a subgroup 2 ? animals treated with L-carnitine in the form of syrup enterally at a dose of 50 mg/kg. The experimental group composed of: a subgroup 3 ? rats exposed to НМS; and a subgroup 4 ? animals affected by НМS with correction of L-carnitine. The experimental group got drinking water with the combined solution containing 1 mg/l of salts Cr (VI), 1 mg/l of salts Pb (II), 1 mg/l of salt Mn (II), 5 mg/l of salts Zn (II), 1 mg/l of salts Cu (II) and 10 mg/l of salts Fe (III). The rats of the subgroups, which underwent correction, got drinking water with a combination of heavy metal salts and L-carnitine enterally using a probe 1 time a day at a dose of 50 mg/l. Each group of animals consisted of 8 rats. The animals were weighed and scarified on the 5th, 15th, 30th and 60th day by decapitation under ether anesthesia. Obtained testis tissue was studied using histological, histochemical, immunohistochemical and morphometric methods. It was found out that in the early postnatal ontogenesis in the testes of the controls occurred maturation and growth of functionally active Leydig cells, reduction in number of gland cells of low activity; and formation of cell clusters as islands and strands. Under influence of salts of heavy metals amount of functionally active Leydig cells increased, the differentiation of endocrine component speeded up. Correcting the influence of heavy metal salts with L-carnitine, we noticed that morphofunctional activity of gland cells compared with controls slightly increased, but remained lower than in rats which were exposed to HMS. During activation of Leydig cells, we observed intratubular inhibition of spermatogenic epithelium maturation. Morphofunctional activity of endocrine cells of the testes under the influence of heavy metals can be explained by different mechanisms: activation of cytochrome P450, functioning of testosterone in the body's stress responses and activation of Leydig cells by the mechanism of negative feedback with structural abnormalities of the hypothalamic-pituitary- gonadal axis. Increasing the morphofunctional activity of endocrine component of the testes under the influence of threshold concentrations of heavy metals can lead to disruption of behavioral responses toward increasing aggressiveness of individuals, as evidenced by the literature. There is high crime rate in polluted regions of Ukraine, because there are excessive rate of heavy metal compounds. We can assume that ecological and biological factors may be important in the structure of the risks of crime.