Aim: To find out the effect of lindane on testicular antioxidant system and testicular steroidogenesis in adult male rats. Methods: Adult male rats were orally administered with lindane at a dose of 5.0 mg/kg body weight per day for 30 days. Twenty-four hours after the last treatment the rats were killed using anesthetic ether. Testes, epididymis,seminal vesicles and ventral prostate were removed and weighed. A 10% testicular homogenate was prepared and cen trifuged at 4°C. The supematant was used for various biochemical estimations. Results: The body weight and the weights of testes, epididymis, seminal vesicles and ventral prostate were reduced in lindane-treated rars. There was asignificant decline in the activities of antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase and glutathione reduc tase while an increase in hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) generation was observed. The specific activities of testicular steroidogenic enzymes 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase were decreased. The levels of DNA, RNA and protein were also decreased in lindane-treated rats. Conclusion: Lindane induces oxida tive stress and decreases antioxidant enzymes in adult male rats.

Aim: To evaluate the effect of methoxychlor on the antioxidant system of goat epididymal sperm. Methods:Epididymis of adult goat was obtained from local slaughter houses and sperm were collected by chopping the epididymis in modified Ringer's phosphate solution (RPS). After several washings, the sperm samples were dispersed in RPS and incubated with methoxychlor (1 μnol/L, 10 μmol/L and 100 μmol/L) and methoxychlor + vitamin C (100μmol/L each) for 3 h at 32℃. After incubation, the sperm motility and viability were assessed. An aliquot of sperm sample was homogenized, centrifuged and used for the assay of superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase and lipid peroxidation. Results: In methoxychlor-incubated sperm and in sperm co-incubated with methoxychlor and vitamin C, the sperm motility and viability showed no significant changes as compared to the corresponding controls. In methoxychlor-incubated sperm the activity of superoxide dismutase, glutathione reductase and glutathione peroxidase were decreased while lipid peroxidation was increased in a dose-dependent manner. Co-incubation of sperm with methoxychlor and vitamin C showed no changes in the activity of superoxide dismutase, glutathione reductase and glutathione peroxidase and in the level of lipid peroxidation. Conclusion: Methoxychlor induced oxidative stress in epididymal sperm of goats by decreasing the levels of antioxidant enzymes. Co-incubation of sperm with methoxychlor and vitamin C, a natural antioxidant, reversed the effect of methoxychlor.