Ghrelin improves rat sperm kinematic parameters during abdominal position of the testis

Disruption of testicular function and arrest of spermatogenesis are the consequence of cryptorchidism in response to elevated temperature. This investigation was set to clarify the possible ghrelin efficacy in altering some sperm quality parameters upon experimentally-induced cryptorchidism. Thirty male adult rats were scheduled for the study and were divided into three groups: group 1 was served as control-saline (CS), group 2 was designed as cryptorchidism-saline (CrS), and group 3 was defined as cryptorchidism-ghrelin (CrG). After surgically inducing cryptorchidism in groups 2 and 3, the researchers gave 10 nmol of ghrelin to CrG rats for 7 consecutive days. Five animals in each group were equally killed on days 3 and 7 after operation and their testes were taken for sperm evaluation. Testicular weight, sperm forward progressive motility (FPM), functional membrane integrity (assessed by HOS-test), and sperm concentration displayed slight changes after heating on day 3. However, abdominal position of the testes for 7 days caused a significant reduction in the percentages of HOS-positive cells (p<0.0001), FPM (p<0.0001), and sperm concentration (p<0.01). Although a 30% decrease occurred in the testicular weight at this point, however, this reduction was not statistically significant. Interestingly, HOS-test and FPM percentages were significantly higher in the ghrelin-exposed animals compared to the CrS group on day 7 (p<0.05). However, ghrelin treatment had not considerable influence on sperm parameters by day 3. Moreover, sperm concentration and testicular weight did not exhibit any changes either on day 3 or at day 7 upon ghrelin injection (p>0.05). Indeed, this function of ghrelin could be attributed to its antioxidant properties and it may be implicated as a potential agent in attenuation of impaired spermatogenesis after cryptorchidism.