Protective Effects of Restricted Diet and Antioxidants on Testis Tissue in Rats Fed with High-Fat Diet

Background: A high-fat diet (HFD) and fat accumulation promote the oxidative stress formation, which in turn has hazardous effects on reproductive system and fertility. Therefore, the present study examines the potential positive effects of a restricted high-fat diet (RHFD) and antioxidants consumption on sperm parameters in rats. Methods: 48 male albino wistar rats divided to four groups (n=12) control group (Cont), HFD group, RHFD, and RHFD with astaxanthin and vitamins E and C group (RHFDA). The animals were weighted during the experiment. After 12 weeks, the rats were sacrified, blood samples were collected from inferior vena cava for serum analysis and epidydimal semen was prepared to study sperm parameters with routine protocols. Also, testes were fixed in 10% formalin and 5µ sections were stained with Hematoxilin and Eosin to study the histological changes. A one-way ANOVA was used to compare the data. Results: After 12 weeks, HFD fed animals presented significant increase in weight load and serum LDL-C levels (P < 0.05). The sperm count in RHFD was lower than three other groups (P < 0.05) as well as sperm motility of RHFDA group was significantly higher than HFD and RHFD groups (P < 0.05). On the other hand, histological study was showed a significant increase in number of spermatogonium in RHFDA compared to three other groups (P < 0.05). Moreover, the number of spermatocyte I and spermatid in RHFD were lower than Cont and HFD groups, significantly (P < 0.05). The sertoli cell number did not change significantly among different groups (P > 0.05). Conclusion: The results reported herein showed that HFD and obesity can affect sperm and spermatogenesis and antioxidants consumption may improve its quality. Although the RHFD is a benefit way in weight loss and decrease of LDL-C of serum, but it is suggested that is not effective on sperm quality improvement. However, it needs more studies in this field.