THE EFFECT OF ALCOHOL ON THE REPRODUCTIVE TISSUES

Administration of alcohol in the food of male white rats for 2 or more months, in daily quantities of 0.25 to 2.25 cc., results almost constantly in the appearance of marked degenerative alterations in the testicles. These changes affect the steps of spermatogenesis in inverse order to their occurrence, so that for some time before sterility and complete aspermia result, the animal is producing spermatozoa with all possible degrees of abnormality and deficiency. The possible relation of this abnormal spermatogenesis to the production of defective offspring is obvious. Individual rats show marked differences in the degree of change produced by equal amounts of alcohol. The fibrous, interstitial, and vascular elements of the testicle are not affected, except for intertubular edema compensating for tubular atrophy. These experimental observations harmonize with the necropsy findings in human alcoholics. No other tissue was found to be noticeably affected by the alcohol; especially to be remarked is the absence of cirrhosis or fatty infiltration in the liver.