الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Nicotine (NT) is considered as one of the most toxic and detrimental substance that can cause oxidative damage and reproductive toxicity. Phoenix dactylifera (Date Palm Pollen) (DPP) have antioxidant property and used for curing male infertility. Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) (AW) has antioxidant properties, counteract the oxidative damage to the sperm and reactive oxygen species. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of water extract of either DPP or AW on nicotine-induced testicular toxicity. Male Swiss albino mice were divided into eight groups of four mice each as follows: control group; DPP supplemented group (1mg/kg/day); AW supplemented group (800 mg/kg/day); NT-treated group (0.5 mg/kg/day); NT co-administrated with DPP group; NT co-administrated with AW group. The above groups continued for 2 weeks but the last 2 groups i.e. DPP pretreatment with NT and AW pretreatment with NT groups continued for 4 weeks as follow: 2 weeks before NT and 2 weeks with NT. Results showed that NT significantly decreased body weight , testis weight, sperm count, T, FSH, LH. In addition GSH, TAC, CAT and SOD activities showed significant decrease associated with significant increase in testicular MDA concentration. Light microscopic examinations of the testis in nicotine group revealed evident degenerations in spermatogenic cells, Sertoli cells and Leydig cells. However, when water extracts of either DPP or AW were administered in concomitant or pretreatment with NT, the estimated parameters and histological features of the testis tend to be nearly normalized. Conclusion: the present investigation showed that nicotine induced oxidative and reproductive damage which reduces fertility of mice. The results also, indicated that DPP or AW have protective effects against adverse effects of nicotine on testis histology, sperm parameters and sexual hormones in mice. AW extract has more protective effect than DPP extract against NT- induced reproductive toxicity. |