Objective This study was to explore the toxicity of 2-bromopropane on
spermatogonia,establish the newt spermatogonia culture
system in vitro as a system to detect the reproductive toxicity of exogenous chemicals.Methods Male adult newts selected as the animal model.Both in vitro and in vivo experiments were conducted to study the effects of 2-
bromopropane on the morphology,death rate and proliferation rate of
spermatogonia.In vitro,newts were divided into 5 groups,i.e.0.01,0.1 or 1 mmol/L 2-bromopropane,FSH positive control and L-15 negative control group.In vivo,newts were administrated (i.p.)2-bromopropane at doses of 0,200,600 or 1 800 mg/kg.Results Both in vitro and in vivo experiments showed that the death rate of spermatogonia rose while the proliferation rate dropped significantly( P <0.05) with the increase of 2-bromopropane concentration.Histological examination showed that 2-bromopropane harmed spermatogonia before it exerted any toxic effect on other organs.Some of spermatogonia had pyknotic nucleus and some appeared necrosis.Conclusion Spermatogonia may be the target cell of 2-bromopropane's reproductive toxicity.In vitro newt spermatogonia culture system may serve as an accessory method for detecting or screening the reproductive toxicity of exogenous chemicals including environmental endocrine disrupters.