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ABSTRACT
Cadmium (Cd) is a toxic heavy metal that has found relevance in several agricultural, mining and industrial activities and because of its many toxic effects, the search for potential ameliorators of its toxicity is still on. This study was designed to determine the effect of Cucumis sativus fruit homogenate (CSH) on cadmium-induced testicular toxicity.
Thirty five (35) male albino rats were randomly divided into five groups as follows; group one (Normal control) received normal saline on day 1, group two (Cd-only) received cadmium on day 1, group three (Ex14Cd1) received cadmium on day 1 and then CSH daily for 14 days, group four (Ex14Cd14)received CSH daily for 14 days and then cadmium on day 14 while group five (Ex28Cd14)receivedCSH daily for 28 days and cadmium on day 14. Cadmium or its vehicle (3 mg/kg bw) was administered subcutaneously while CSH (4 ml/kg bw) was administered orally by gavage.
In the testes, Cd significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) and increased significantly (p < 0.05) glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity as well as levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and reduced glutathione (GSH). Histopathological analysis also revealed severe destruction of the spermatogenic series and sertoli cells while analysis of sperm population revealed the total absence of sperm cells. Ex14Cd1 treated rats showed a significant (p < 0.05) difference in the levels of antioxidant parameters when compared with the normal control. Histopathological analysis revealed no significant improvement in testicular injury caused by cadmium and analysis of sperm population revealed the total absence of sperm cells. Ex14Cd14 treated rats on the other hand, showed a significant (p < 0.05) improvement in the antioxidant parameters when compared with the Cd-only treated group but the levels of these antioxidants were still not comparable with the normal control. Histopathological analysis revealed mild testicular protection and the sperm population was not significantly different from the normal control. However when these rats were left for fourteen more days (Ex28Cd14), all parameters degenerated. This study has shown that CSH at 4ml/kg bw is not effective at protecting the testes from cadmium toxicity. In the prostate, photomicrographs revealed mild ultra-structural changes in the cd-only treated group relative to the normal control. Administration of CSH was able to protect the prostate from the damage caused by cadmium in all CSH treatment groups.
