Journal of Applied Physiology, Vol 60, Issue 5 1710-1712, Copyright © 1986 by American Physiological Society
Hyperbaric-induced subfertility in mice: lack of effect of decompression
D. Hawley, M. J. Halsey and B. Wardley-Smith
Male mice were exposed to 50 atmospheres absolute (ATA). He for 30 min,
twice weekly for 5 wk and their fertility assessed by subsequently mating
with untreated virgin females. The exposure schedule was designed to
provide compression and decompression times the same as previous positive
studies of hyperbaric-induced subfertility but with much shorter periods at
maximum pressure (30 min vs. 24 h). We postulated that, if subfertility
were associated with exposure to pressure per se rather than with
compression or decompression, then the present experiments would fail to
produce a decrease in male fertility. The data were compared with those of
a control group placed in the hyperbaric chamber at 1 ATA. The pregnancy
rate for exposed vs. control mice was 89 vs. 86%, and the mean live liter
size was 6.2 vs. 5.6. There were no statistically significant differences
between these and other indexes of male fertility, and the results support
our hypothesis that the hyperbaric-induced subfertility in male mice is not
associated with these decompression procedures.
