Abstract: To explore the effect of fluoride on growth and fluoride content of gonads in male mice with sexual maturation, 40 healthy male Kunming mice were distributed into 4 groups randomly including the control group (distilled water), low dose fluoride (30 mg/L NaF in their drinking water), middle dose fluoride (70 mg/L) and high dose fluoride (150 mg/L) group. During the exposure, the healthy condition of mice was observed and the body weight of mice was recorded every week. After 49 days, blood, femur, testis, epididymis, and seminal vesicle were collected and fluoride contents were deternined. Compared with the controls, there was no significant difference in all fluoride groups (P＞0.05). In high group, body weight gain was significantly decreased (P＜0.05). The fluoride content of femur in all fluoride groups were significantly increased compared to control group (P＜0.05). Testis and epididymis fluoride contents increased in a dose-dependent manner, and were significantly higher in 150 mg/L group than those in controls (P＜0.05). There was no significant difference in blood and seminal vesicle between all fluoride groups and the control group (P＞0.05). The results showed that high fluoride inhibited the growth of male mice with sexual maturation, and can permeate the blood barriers of testis and epididymis to damage reproductive system.

Key words: fluoride; male mice; growth; gonads; fluoride content