Protective Effects of Royal Jelly on the Reproductive System of Male Mice Treated with Daunorubicin

Daunorubicin is an effective antibiotic for the chemotherapy of various cancers. To prevent damage to healthy cells during chemotherapy, it is recommended to change this treatment or protect healthy cells from chemotherapeutic agents by protective compounds. The present study aimed to check the protective effect of royal jelly on male reproductive system against the side effects induced by daunorubicin injection in mice.

In this study, 77 adult BALB/c mice were randomly divided into seven groups including sham, control, royal jelly 1, royal jelly 2, daunorubicin, royal jelly 1+daunorubicin, and royal jelly 2+daunorubicin. Mice received saline (0.09%), and daunorubicin (2 mg/kg) intraperitoneally, and royal jelly (50 and 100 mg/kg) orally for 8weeks. The sperm parameters, testis weight, and oxidative stress parameters were evaluated. Using SPSS software (version 16), data were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance and Tukey test. P<0.05 was considered significant.

Daunorubicin caused a significant improvement in sperm parameters, testicular weight, total antioxidant capacity (p<0.01), and a significant decrease in malondialdehyde levels (p<0.05), while in the treatment group these changes were compensated by royal jelly.

The results of this study showed that daunorubicin caused decrease in sperm parameters and increased oxidative stress, while royal jelly, as a rich source of antioxidants, moderated these changes