Protective effects of vitamin E on cyclosporineA-induced toxicity in rat testis

Cyclosporine A (CsA) as an immunosuppressive drug which widely used in organ transplantation and autoimmune diseases. This drug is caused many injuries and cell cytotoxic of the body organs such as reproductive organs. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible protective effects of vitamin E (Vit E) against CsA-induced damages in rat testis. 40 adult male wistar rats were divided into 5 groups: control (without any intervention), placebo (received only pure olive oil), test 1 (CsA+olive oil, 30 mg/kg), test 2 (Vit E, 100 mg/kg) and test 3 (CsA+Vit E, with the same dose). All animal received drugs for three weeks daily by oral gavages. Following, the testis were fixed and sections stained with Haematoxylin & Eosin and Trichrome Masson. Then with using a microscope equipped with a scaled ocular micrometer and image analysis software were histomorphometry. This study showed that CsA caused severe degenerative changes in testicular tissue include decreased seminiferous tubules diameter, seminiferous epithelium thickness. Also, the number of spermatogonia, primary spermatocyte, spermatozoa, and sertoli and leydig cells significantly decreased throughout the experiment. These changes are lead to turbulence and atrophy seminiferous epithelium and delay in spermatogenesis. Treatment with vitamin E minimized the adverse effects of CsA on testis structure and spermatogenesis. These results suggest that vitamin E has a protective effect against CsA-induced testicular toxicity in male rat.