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Histological Investigations of the Mechanism of Sterility induced by Deuterium Oxide in Mice

Abstract

DURING investigations in which normal females were mated to male mice treated with deuterium oxide, it has been shown that D2O produces sterility in the males1,2; however, the site of the damage has not been demonstrated. Since embryonic death after implantation did not increase in such females, cleavage stage embryos were examined 18–72 h after mating3. Most of the embryos present in the oviducts were either one-celled or, though ‘multicellular’, were abnormal and degenerating; few normal embryos were found. These results did not indicate whether developmental failure was due to failure of the sperm to fertilize the egg or to a failure of the fertilized egg to develop. The experiment reported here utilized standard histological techniques to demonstrate clearly that the previously observed pre-implantation death is due to the failure of the sperm to fertilize the egg, not to subsequent abnormal cleavage of the fertilized egg.

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References

  1. Hughes, A. M., and Calvin, M., Science, 127, 1445 (1958).

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  2. Hughes, A. M., Bennett, E. L., and Calvin, M., Proc. U.S. Nat. Acad. Sci., 45, 581 (1959).

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  3. Hughes, A. M., Bennett, E. L., and Calvin, M., Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., 84, 763 (1960).

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HUGHES, A., GLASS, L. Histological Investigations of the Mechanism of Sterility induced by Deuterium Oxide in Mice. Nature 208, 1119–1120 (1965). https://doi.org/10.1038/2081119a0

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