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The effect of increased ozone concentrations in the air on selected
aspects of rat reproduction.
Division of Pathophysiology, Department of
Pathology and Pharmacology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University
of Warmia and Mazury, 10-719 Olsztyn-Kortowo, ul. Oczapowskiego 13,
Poland. maried@uwm.edu.pl
Five-month-old male rates were exposed to 0.5 ppm
ozone for 50 days, 5 hours a day. A week before the completion of ozone
exposure, a biological test was performed to determine the fertilization
rate and the survival rate of newborns in both ozone-exposed and control
animals. After 50 days, the rats were sacrificed with an overdose of
halotane, and testes were collected to assess the morphology and
motility of spermatozoa. Neither the morphology of spermatozoa nor
motility parameters determined by the CASA (computer-assisted sperm
analysis) system showed statistically significant differences between
ozone-exposed and control males. The number of successful matings and
the survival rate of newborns per litter within one year postpartum were
also similar in both groups. However, sperm concentration was by 17%
lower in ozone-exposed rats, compared with the control animals.
PMID: 16573270 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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