P-42: Protective Effects of Melatonin on The Testis in Post-Status Epilepticus Rats Following Lithium-Pilocarpin Injection As A Model of Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE)

Background: Reproductive dysfunction and endocrine disorders are common among men with complex partial seizures of temporal lobe origin. More than 90% of men with epilepsy have abnormal semen analysis, including decreased sperm count, abnormal morphology, and impaired motility. The aim of this study was the assay of chronic treatment with melatonin during the latent phase and chronic phase of evolving TLE on the testis and accessory sex organs weight, sperm parameters and antioxidant enzymes concentrations in the testis. Materials and Methods: Eight groups of male Wistar rats were treated as follows: epileptic rats without any injection, solvent of melatonin (2% ethanol) as a vehicle (Sham); melatonin (5 mg/kg/daily) for 14 days, melatonin (5 mg/kg/daily) for 60 days, melatonin (20 mg/ kg/daily) for 14 days, melatonin (20 mg/kg/daily) for 60 days, sedentary control without any injection (Control) and rats with reverse injection of lithium-pilocarpine. Results: Induction of Status Epilepticus caused significant decrease (p ≤ 0.05) in sperm count and parameters. This experiment revealed that melatonin 5 mg for 60 days can significantly improve progressive motility of sperm (p ≤ 0.05). Moreover, melatonin 20 mg for 14 days and 5 mg for 60 days caused significant improvement in total motility of sperms and reduced immotile sperm. Furthermore, there was a significant reduction in total antioxidant (TA), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalaze (CA) levels between epileptic and control groups. Melatonin 20mg for 60 days caused a significant increase in the levels of TA, SOD and CA. Melatonin 20mg for 14 days and 5 mg for 60 days showed a significant increase in SOD and CA, respectively. Testis weight and accessory sex organs were not statistically significant. Conclusion: It seems that chronic administration of low dose melatonin or semi chronic administration of high dose might be effective in ameliorating some consequences of Status Epilepticus on the sperm quality and antioxidant enzymes which can in turn affect male fertility.