Authors : O.W. Akintunde, S.A. Ameen and L.W.B. Olaniyan
Abstract: Every barrel of crude oil holds remarkable potential to keep us warm to keep us on the going and to provide the building blocks for countless products we depend on everyday meanwhile, its environmental hazards have not been giving adequate attention as it affects man, especially in the line of reproduction as one of the characteristics of living thing. Thus, the present study investigates petrol and diesel possible effects on rats’ reproduction. About 25 healthy male wistar rats weighed between 93-230 g were randomly divided into 5 groups: A-E, each containing 5 rats. Groups A and B were orally dosed with 0.2 and 0.4 mL/rat of petrol, respectively likewise groups C and D were dosed with 0.2 and 0.4 mL/rat of diesel and the group E served as control and received distilled water. The dosing was done every day for 28 days. No significant (p>0.05) change in body weight of the rats. Likewise, the sperm counts of the treated rats showed no statistically significant results when compared both petrol and diesel treated rats with the control. Significantly, abnormal spermatozoa morphology and low percentage of motile spermatozoa was evident in both petrol and diesel treated rats (p<0.05). However, histopathology revealed in a dose related manner seminiferous tubules without lumen, distruption of histoarchitecture of seminiferous tubules with vascular congestion of the interstitium in petrol treated tissues while the diesel treated rats at same doses exhibits shrunk, conjoin and elongation of seminiferous tubules and lost of sertoli cell. These findings indicate antifertility properties of the two hydrocarbons.
O.W. Akintunde, S.A. Ameen and L.W.B. Olaniyan, 2012. Commonly Used Hydrocarbons (Petrol and Diesel) Adversely Affects Male Rats Reproduction. Veterinary Research, 5: 8-12.