Changes in germinal tissue and Leydig cells correlated with ethanol consumption in males with and without liver disease.

The weight of testicles and morphometric changes in testicular germinal tissue and Leydig cells were correlated with chronic consumption of ethyl alcohol and liver diseases in 44 consecutive autopsies. The mass and volume of seminiferous tubules decreased with the increase in alcohol consumption (p less than 0.05). The atrophy and fibrosis of testicles were most advanced in males with liver cirrhosis (p less than 0.005) and in males with moderate or heavy fatty liver (p less than 0.01) whereas these parameters were only slightly decreased in alcoholic males with normal liver despite the greater amount of ethanol consumed. The changes in Leydig cells were mainly inconspicious. These results indicate that the most sensitive tissue to chronic alcohol-induced injury in testis is the germinal tissue and point out the role of liver diseases in testicular damage found in alcoholics.