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Antisterility Activity of d--Tocopheryl Hydroquinone in the Vitamin E-deficient Male Hamster and Rat^{1, 2,}

Department of Anatomy, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York 14620

A previous study (J. Nutr. 105, 484–490) described a testicular degeneration in the vitamin E-deficient Syrian hamster which, unlike that in the vitamin E-deficient rat, was effectively repaired by d--tocopherol. In the present study male hamsters were reared from weaning on vitamin E-deficient diets, one high and one low in added fats, for 90 to 100 days prior to surgical ablation of one testis. All testes were much reduced in weight and, histologically, showed advanced degenerative changes. Maintenance on the same diet, with daily oral supplements of 10 mg of d--tocopheryl acetate or 25 mg of d--tocopheryl hydroquinone for periods of 20 to 30 days, resulted in marked increases in testis weight and remarkable repair of the germinal epithelium, histologically. In rats similarly treated, 10 mg of the hydroquinone daily protected against testicular degeneration but was, as anticipated on the basis of the irrevocable injury in this species, ineffective in repair of testis injury. In both hamsters and rats there was evidence of storage of the hydroquinone, or some biologically active product, with effectiveness lasting several months. It is concluded that d--tocopheryl hydroquinone, in addition to previously demonstrated antidystrophic properties, has antisterility activity in the vitamin E-deficient male hamster and rat approximating one-fifth that of d--tocopherol.

KEY WORDS: • testis degeneration • testis repair • d--tocopheryl hydroquinone • d--tocopherol

¹ Supported in part by a grant from the National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism and Digestive Diseases (AM 00938), National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md., and a grant-in-aid from the Muscular Dystrophy Associations of America, Inc.

² A preliminary report of these studies was presented before the American Association of Anatomists in Seattle, Wash. (1959) Anat. Rec. 133, 307.

³ Present address: Veterans Administration Hospital, Albany, N.Y. 12529.

⁴ Present address: National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism and Digestive Diseases (EP), National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md. 20014.

Manuscript received 4 October 1974.