Detrimental Effect of Atrazine on Testicular Tissue and Sperm Quality: Implication for Oxidative Stress and Hormonal Alterations

Background: Atrazine (ATR) is used as an agriculture herbicide worldwide. It has been shown that ATR adversely affect the reproductive system in rodents. In this study we aimed to evaluate the impact of chronic exposure to Atrazine (ATR) on male testicular tissue, sperm parameters, serum level of total thiol molecules (TTM) and malodialdehyde (MDA) content of testes. Methods: To follow-up this study, 72 adult and mature male rats were divided into test and control-sham groups. The animals in test group received the compound at dose levels of 100, 200 and 300 mg/kg, b.w., orally representing the low, medium and high doses of ATR respectively for 12, 24, 48 days. Control-sham group received the corn oil (0.2 ml/day) in the same manner as test groups. Results: Light microscopic analyses revealed increased thickness of tunica albuginea, atrophied seminiferous tubules, arrested spermatogenesis, decreased leydig cells/ mm2 of interstitial tissue (2.0±0.7/mm2 in high dose received rats), vasodilatation and thrombosis. Sperm parameters assays showed that the sperm count (26.50±2.16×106 vs control 70.25±1.25), viability (21.26±2.58% vs control 90.75±6.23) and motility (12.00±1.58% vs control 90.41±2.12) decreased in ATR-exposed animals in a dose-dependent fashion. Biochemical analyses for TTM and MDA demonstrated that in ATR-exposed animals the serum level of TTM (0.100±0.005 Mol/ml vs control 0.321± 0.002) decreased significantly (P<0.05) and by contrast the testicular MDA level (4.053±2.28 nMol/mg vs control 1.75±0.34) elevated in testicular tissues. Conclusion: the current data provide inclusive histological feature of chronic exposure against ATR in testicular tissue. Moreover, other reproductive-related disorders including abnormalities in spermatogenesis, sperm viability, volume and motility, may attribute to the ATR-induced oxidative stress, which reflected by remarkable alteration in TTM and MDA levels.