Effect of Low Power Ga-Al-As (830 Nm) Laser Radiation on Qualitative and Ultrastructural Features of the Seminiferous Epithelium

Purpose: This study was carried out to determine the qualitative and ultrastructural changes of the seminiferous epithelium after Ga.A1.As(830 nm) laser radiation. Materials and Methods: Male Sprague- Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups (Two experimental groups and one control). The left testes of them were shaved,washed and marked at inferior pole and daily exposed to laser light for 15 days. The cumulative doses used 0, 28.05 (J/cm2) and 46.80 (J/cm2)in the sham and experimental groups respectively. Sampling was carried out 24 hours after the last treatment. the samples were fixed in 2.5% glutaraldehyde and the thin and ultrathin sections were examined under light and electron microscopes. Results: In the testes trradiated at 28.05 (J/cm2) the spermatogenesis was normal and the ultrastructural features of both germ and sertoli cells were similar to control, while in the seminiferous epithelium of the testes irradiated at 46.80 (J/cm2),euident qualitative changes were found including thickening and irregularity of basal lamina, increase in Vacuolization and formation of the large clusters of lysosomes in the ,cytoplasm of sertoli cells, disturbance in the normal spermiogenesis, dissociation of immature spermatids and significantly increase in degenerated and abnormal elongated spermatids. Conclusion: Low doses of laser radiation can result in biostimulative effects on spermatogenesis and cause inhancement in the number of the germ cells with normal ultrastructural features, while the doses higher than biostimulative threshold can cause specific lesions in the developement of spermatozoon and it might be a distructive factor in spermategenesis.