Post-treatment with Telfairia occidentalis seed oil attenuates alcohol-induced testicular damage in Sprague-Dawley rats

BACKGROUND Long term alcohol use has been implicated in men with sexual disorders including suppression of testosterone levels as well as testicular morphological changes. OBJECTIVE This research investigated the ability of Telfairia occidentalis (T.O.) to attenuate the damaging effects of alcohol on the testicular parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS Thirty male Sprague-Dawley rats, 170-190 grams were divided into 6 groups, A to F and treated with distilled water (DW) for the period of 8 weeks (positive control group A), ethanol for 2 weeks followed with DW for 6 weeks (group B) (negative control), ethanol alone for 2 weeks (group C) while others received ethanol for 2 weeks, followed with 200 (group D), 400 (group E) and 600 mg/kg (group F) of T.O. for 6 weeks. RESULTS Testicular histological sections showed that ethanol produced marked loss of testicular germ cells after two weeks of administration. T.O (200 mg/kg body weight) was not able to attenuate this microanatomical distortion when compared with control groups, but at 400 mg/kg body weight, T.O reversed the ethanol`s effects with resultant significant increase in sperm count and motility (p<0.05), serum testosterone levels (p<0.05), and testicular weight (p<0.05). However, at 600 mg/kg dosage, there was marked depletion of testicular germ cells with atrophied seminiferous tubules and a decrease in semen parameters and testicular weight. CONCLUSION Our result suggests that T.O promotes the regeneration of testicular germ cells and improves semen quality at a certain critical dose. Hence, T.O has a potential of reversing ethanol induced testicular damage.