Four healthy bucks of the West African Dwarf breed aged between 24 and 30 months were used for this study. The bucks were first used as control and later as experimental animals upon being fed daily with oiled pumpkin plant for the period of six months. The objective of the study was to investigate the effect of the pumpkin plant on the morphology of the spermatozoa of the bucks. There were significant differences (p< 0.05) between the control and experimental values for both primary and secondary morphological spermatozoa abnormalities: the pyriform head has a control value of 6 (0. 42%) and post-feeding value of 0 (0%), the beat tail; 14(0.97%) and 2 (0.16%) for the control and post feeding values respectively. The curved mid piece: 17 (1.18%) and 1 (0.08%) for the control and post-feeding values respectively. The bent mid piece also differed significantly (p<0.05) between control value of 16 (1.11%) and post feeding value of 3 (0.23%). All through the stages of the study, there were significant reductions in the number of sperm cells with abnormalities consequent upon daily feeding of the animals with pumpkin plant. The plant is therefore recommended for both prevention and treatment of make infertility in man and animals.
Histomorphometry of the testes and epididymis were carried out on the domesticated adult African great cane rat (Thryonomys swinderianus), also known as the grasscutter. The average weight and age of the cane rats used in the study were 1.93 ± 0.42 kg and 18.80 ± 1.39 months respectively. The mean relative volume of the germinal epithelium, interstitium and lumen of the seminiferous tubules of the cane rats were 68.54 ± 1.63%, 8.86 ± 0.85% and 21.40 ± 1.12% respectively. The mean diameter of the seminiferous tubules of the cane rats used for this study was 183.0 ± 11.06 µm. The ductal diameter of the caput, corpus and cauda epididymis were 207.4
Objectives. Bisphenol A (BPA) has been reported that among other male reproductive dys-functions, it can cause marked estrogenic effects including alteration in serum hormones as well as testicular lesions in exposed animals. This work sought to study the role of gallic acid (GA), a known antioxidant, on the BPA-induced testicular oxidative stress in adult male Wistar rats using serum hormone analysis, histopathology, and biochemical assays.Methods. Adult male rats were divided into four groups (n=10) including control (0.2 ml of corn oil), GA (20 mg/kg/day), BPA (10 mg/kg/day), BPA+GA (BPA, 10 mg/kg/day + GA, 20 mg/kg/day). All medications were given by oral gavage for 45 consecutive days. The body and testicular weights were measured. Blood and organ samples were collected for the serum hormonal assay: testosterone (T), luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and prolactin (PRL), and tissue biochemistry analysis: superoxide dismutase (SOD), reduced glutathione (GSH), glutathione-S-transferase (GST), malondialdehyde (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), respectively.Results. The BPA-treated rats showed significant reduction in the gonadosomatic index. BPA also caused significant decrease in the levels of the serum testosterone and prolactin. Furthermore, BPA induced testicular oxidative stress by decreasing the activities of antioxidant enzymes and increasing reactive oxygen species. However, co-treatment with GA protected against these alterations.Conclusion. Findings from the present study confirmed the previously reported data and show that the ability of GA, as a potent antioxidant, may protect against BPA-induced alterations in the male reproductive function. Hence, GA protects against testicular oxidative stress in adult male Wistar rats following chronic exposure to BPA.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.