HISTOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF THE CHANGES IN THE BLOOD-TESTIS BARRIER FOR BORAKS USE

OBJECTIVE: The long-term use of boron compounds commonly used in daily life has some dose-dependent toxic effects on different organs For this purpose, in our study, we aimed to determine the change in blood-testis barrier structure and the number of leydig cells in the testis of rats in which were given borax at different doses. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In our study, 4 groups, in each have 6 male rats were made. Different doses of borax were given orally to rats in each groups. After the experiment, the left testis was excised, histologically processed and stained with Claudin-1, Pan cadherin and Calretinin immunohistochemically and evaluated under light microscopy. RESULTS: In testis slides, it was determined that Cadherin expression decreased parallel to borax doses. However, it was observed that the expression of Claudin 1 did not change much between the groups. The number of Leydig cells was observed to decrease in rats administered once with an LD50x2 dose. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that the use of borax may be deleterious to the blood-testis barrier components in the testes. These effects have the potential to cause long term infertility problems. For this reason, we consider that it is necessary to take important preventive measures in terms of environmental pollution, especially around boron components production centers