P-58: Mast Cells in Interstitial Tissue in The Testis of Male Rats Treated with Acyclovir

Background: Acyclovir (9-(2-hydroxyethoxymethyl) guanine) (ACV) is an acyclic nucleoside analogue that has shown a potent antiviral activity, and it is known to inhibit the replication of herpesviruses including herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and type 2 (HSV-2), varicella- zoster virus (VZV), and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in cell cultures and in animals. ACV is khown to be toxic to gonads,then the aim of the present study was to evaluate effect of ACV on the testis tissue in rat. Materials and Methods: In this study Thirty-two adult male wistar rats (220 ± 20 g) were randomly divided into four groups (n=8 each) with one group serving as control sham (distilled water i.p.), in the drug treated groups Acyclovir administered (4,16,48 mg/kg/day i.p.) for 15 days. All rats were sacrificed by CO2 inhalation 18 days after the last injection and the testis was removed and fixed in 10% neutural buffered formalin and processed for paraffin embedding. Five μm thick sections were stained with Toluidine Blue. Light microscopical analysis was made to evaluate the structural changes induced in the testis. Results: Histomorphometrical study confirmed that Acyclovir induced histopatological changes in the rats testis. The mean number of mast cells in peritubular or interstitial tissue in the testis was increased at tow higher doselevels in compared to control sham group. Conclusion: Taking collectively, the present results highly support the idea that Acyclovir has adverse effect on testicular morphology in rats.