OBJECTIVETo study the effects of dietetic hyperlipidemia on the development of testes and penises in male New Zealand rabbits.

METHODSThe animal model of dietetic hyperlipidemia was established by feeding 36 male New Zealand rabbits which were divided into the test group (n = 20) and the control group (n = 16) at random with rich fat. The concentration of TC, TG, HDL-C as well as LDL-C was determined by using automatic biochemistry analyzer. Radioimmunoassay methods were used to measure the level of T, LH and FSH as well. Alterations of testicular and penial development in morphology were observed by HE staining.

RESULTSCompared with the control group, concentrations of TC, TG and LDL-C increased dramatically as well as the levels of T, LH and FSH decreased obviously. There are significant differences between the two groups (P <0.01). Compared with the control group, the penial length was short (P < 0.05) and testicular coefficient declined (P < 0.01) in the test group. With light microscope, the following phenomenon was manifestly detected: the sabotage of spermatogenic epithelium and the adipocyte sedimentation of the penial tissue.

CONCLUSIONIt is obvious that intaking a large quantity of food with rich fat from juvenile would induce dietetic hyperlipidemia, result in the functional disorder of hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal axis, and leads to short penis in development and the damage of spermatogenesis function as well.