1. Testosterone Prevents atrazine-Induced Oxidative Damage, Inflammation and Histologic Changes in the Testes of Young Mature Rats
- Author
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Mgbudom-Okah, Chidimma J., Abarikwu, Sunny O., and Wegwu, Matthew O.
- Abstract
Exposure to atrazine (ATZ), an endocrine disrupting chemical reduces testosterone (T) concentration in mammalian animal models. Therefore, T is thought to have protective effects against ATZ-induced testicular damage and histologic changes in young adult rats. Male albino rats were divided randomly into five groups and given oral ATZ (50 mg/kg b.w) 6 days in a week alone or in combination with intraperitoneal injection of T (200, 400 or 800 µg/ kg b.w) every other day for 52 days. At the end of the study, sperm quality was increased and number of abnormal sperms was decreased in ATZ + T co-treated rats. Lipid peroxidation decreased, whereas lactate dehydrogenase activity and testosterone concentration increased after T co-treatment. The regulatory effects of T on tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-17 (IL-17), nitric oxide and myeloperoxidase activity in the testes of co-treated animals were observed in a dose-dependent manner except for TNF-α where the lowest T dose has better recovery effect than at higher doses. Furthermore, T co-treatment was observed to increase the epithelia thickness and diameter of the seminiferous tubule in a dose-dependent manner. Finally, T co-treatment could also dose-dependently elevate glutathione concentration and the enzyme activity levels of superoxide dismutase and catalase in the testes of rats. The data suggest that T minimized ATZ-induced diminution of defensive inflammatory molecules and antioxidant systems, further elucidating the relevance of androgens under inflammatory and oxidative stress situations in the testes.
- Published
- 2023
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