The Effect of Camphor on Seminiferous Tubules of Balb/c Mice

Background and In Iranian traditional medicine it has been widely believed that camphor is a suppressor of sexual desire. Based on this idea and the few studies about this issue we examined the effect of camphor on the histological changes and spermatogenesis phenomena in the mouse reproductive system. In this experimental study 24 premature male balb/c mice were selected and divided into four (2 experimental and 2 control) groups. Experimental groups 1 and 2 were administered daily 30 mg/kg body weight dissolved camphor in olive oil (orally) for 10 and 20 days respectively. The control groups received the same volume of olive oil during the same periods. At the end of the exposure time each group was anesthetized and their testes were routinely removed for obtaining serial sections and histological staining. The obtained data were analyzed using t-test. The study data indicated that although the mean external diameter of the somniferous tubules did not show significant differences in experimental and control groups the mean internal diameter tubules (26/31±1/56) of the experimental groups (versus control groups 42/38±2/19) decreased by %25 and mature sexual cells (17/±3/71) in the experimental groups (versus control groups 28±3/92) decreased by %12. The results of the present study indicated that administration of camphor significantly decreased the internal diameter of Somniferous tubules and reduced maturity of sexual cells; hence affecting the reproductive system of the male mice with structural changes.