The Protective Effect of Royal Jelly and Vitamin C Coadministration on Detrimental Effects of Phenylhydrazine-induced Hemolytic Anemia on the Parameters of Testicular Tissue in Adult Laboratory Mice

Reduction in blood circulation and oxygen delivery can affect structure and function of testicular tissue and spermatogenesis. The present study was conducted to evaluate the protective effect of vitamin C and royal jelly coadministration on the experimental hemolytic anemia-induced changes in testicular histoarchitecture in adult mice. In this experimental study, 32 adult mice weighing 20-25g were divided into 4 groups, including control group that received normal saline (0.1mL, IP), sham-control group received phenylhydrazine (PHZ) (6mg/100, IP), PHZ+vitamin C (250mg/kg, IP)+royal jelly (100mg/kg, orally) group, and royal jelly+vitamin C group. Following the 35-day treatment period, the tissue samples were dissected out. After tissue passage, embedding, and section preparation, the slides underwent hematoxylin and eosin staining. Different parameters, such as testis capsular thickness, germinal epithelium height, seminiferous tubules diameter, number of seminiferous tubules per 1 mm2, mean number of primary spermatocytes, Leydig cells, active Sertoli cells, and mast cells, were assessed. Observations revealed a significant reduction in the evaluated parameters in the PHZ group, which this reduction was prevented by coadministration of royal jelly and vitamin C as an antioxidant. The results of this study indicated that coadministration of vitamin C and royal jelly was able to neutralize the detrimental effect of hemolytic anemia on the reproductive system of laboratory mice.