The Protective Effects of Naringenin on Testes Gonadotoxicity Induced by Cisplatin in Rats

Cisplatin (CIS) is a highly effective chemotherapeutic agent for the treatment of various types of cancers but causes reproductive toxicity. The present study was aimed to investigate the protective potential of naringenin against CISinduced testicular toxicity in rats.The fertility experiment was done on four groups of male rats. The group 1 was kept as normal control, while the group 2 and 3 were treated with intraperitoneal injection of CIS at a dose of 3 mg/kg three times per week for 35 days on 1st, 3rd and 5th days of the week. The group 2 was left as CIS-control, while the group 3 was given orally naringenin at dose of 50mg/kg for 8 consecutive weeks.Ggroup 4 was givenonly naringenin at dose of 50mg/kg orally for 8 consecutive weeks. Male fertility was evaluated by estimating serum testosterone level, epididymal sperm characters and genital organs weight. Moreover, The concentration of lipid peroxidation product (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) contents were also estimated in the testicular homogenate. Fertility parameters were further confirmed by histopathological examination of testes . The results of the present study have clearly shown that the impact of CIS on several reproductive parameters of male rats was improved by naringenin administration in term of increased serum testosterone concentration, sperm count, sperm motility and sperm viability and genital organs weight. Moreover, the present study suggested that naringenin might have a protective effect against oxidative stress-induced impaired testicular functions in CIS-treated rats as it reduced TBARS and elevated GSH levels in the testicular homogenate. Thus, the present results indicate the protective effect naringenin against CIS-induced testicular toxicity.