Testicular cytoprotective activities of <i>Curcuma longa</i> in STZ-induced diabetic adult male wistar rats

Abstract

This study was aimed at investigating the cytoprotective activities of Curcuma longa (Turmeric) on the histological structure of the testes in diabetic male rats. Turmeric is commonly called the golden spice, is used as a spice in cooking and also has a long history of medicinal use, dating back nearly 4000 years to the Vedic culture in India. Its major component is the curcumin that is found to be a natural antioxidant. Diabetes affects large number of young men of reproductive age. It is among a number of disorders associated with oxidative stress. There has been a relationship established between the reduction in glucose load and insulin resistance reduction and oxidative stress in people. Male wistar rats (n=24) were allocated randomly into six groups, 4 in each. Group 1: Control were given only water and standard rat chow; Group 2 and 3: turmeric (100mg/kg) and (25mg/kg) respectively; Group 4: induced with 30mg/kg of streptozotocin (STZ) for 3 days; Group 5: STZ with turmeric (100mg/kg); Group 6: STZ with turmeric (25mg/kg). At the end of the experiment (21 days), the testes were excised for histological analysis. The seminiferous tubules, seminiferous epithelium, Leydig cells were shown to be enhanced in the histoarchitecture of the testes of the treated diabetic groups and did not show any toxicity on the testes in the non-diabetic groups. In conclusion, this study has shown that turmeric does not only possess a non-toxic effect but has cytoprotective effects on the histoarchitecture of the testes in diabetic rats.

Keywords: histo-architecture, leydig cells, diabetes, oxidative stress, testes, curcumin.