The cause of fertility problems in insulin-dependent diabetes is largely unknown. To evaluate the role of autoimmunity-associated phenomena in the testis as a possible cause of the derangement in spermatogenesis, the stage-specific apoptosis of germ cells in the insulitis phase of pre-diabetes was quantified in the testes of non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice. The seminiferous epithelium of normal BALB/c and NOD mice contained cells positive for in-situ end-labelling (ISEL) of DNA. ISEL-positive germ cells formed clusters in the seminiferous epithelium of the NOD mice in marked contrast to the seminiferous epithelium of the BALB/c mice, which contained only individual cells positive for ISEL. ISEL-positive cells were present in the basal and luminal compartments of the epithelium. Ultrastructural analysis and demonstration of externalized phosphatidyl serine confirmed that the cells were undergoing apoptosis. The ultrastructurally apoptotic cells included spermatogonia, spermatocytes and spermatids. In cytological squash preparations of segments of seminiferous tubules from NOD mice aged 17-20 weeks, the number of ISEL-positive cells/mm tubule was significantly lower in segments at stages I-II of the seminiferous epithelial wave but higher at stages III-IV in comparison to BALB/c mice. The numbers of ISEL-positive cells/mm tubule in the other stages were similar in the two strains of mice. Analysis of 32P-3'-end labelled DNA from the testes showed that the BALB/c mice had relatively more DNA fragmentation than did the NOD mice. These data suggest that autoimmune insulitis in the NOD mice is associated with increased amounts and abnormal stage distribution of apoptosis in the seminiferous epithelium, resulting in derangement of spermatogenesis.