Mabrouk A
Faculty of Medicine, Laboratory of Histology and Cytogenetic (Research Unit of Genetic, Genotoxicity and Childhood Illness UR12ES10), University of Monastir, Monastir, Tunisia.
Andrologia. 2018 Aug;50(6):e13014. doi: 10.1111/and.13014. Epub 2018 Apr 16.
Lead (Pb) is a nonthreshold multi-targeted toxicant that causes alterations in different organs of the body, especially the gonads. This study was aimed to investigate the possible protective effect of thymoquinone (TQ), the major active ingredient of volatile oil of Nigella sativa seeds, against Pb-induced testicular histological damage. Adult male rats were randomised into four groups as follows: control group received no treatment, Pb group was exposed to 2000 ppm of Pb acetate in drinking water, Pb-TQ group was cotreated with Pb plus TQ (5 mg/kg/day, per os) and TQ group receiving only TQ. All treatments were applied for five weeks. Results showed that Pb exposure produced morphological changes in the testis, especially degeneration of germinal epithelium, sloughing of germ cells into the lumen of seminiferous tubules and reduction in the number of luminal spermatozoa. Interestingly, coadministration of TQ to the metal-treated animals prevented the testicular adverse effects. In conclusion, our data indicate for the first time a remarkable protective effect of TQ against Pb-induced testicular histopathological lesions in rat. On this basis, TQ deserves more consideration and further examination as a potential therapeutic option.
铅（Pb）是一种无阈值的多靶点毒物，会导致身体不同器官发生改变，尤其是性腺。本研究旨在探讨黑种草籽挥发油的主要活性成分百里醌（TQ）对铅诱导的睾丸组织学损伤可能具有的保护作用。成年雄性大鼠被随机分为四组，如下：对照组不接受任何处理，铅组饮用含2000 ppm醋酸铅的水，铅 - TQ组同时接受铅和TQ（5毫克/千克/天，口服）处理，TQ组仅接受TQ处理。所有处理均持续五周。结果显示，铅暴露导致睾丸出现形态学变化，尤其是生精上皮变性、生殖细胞脱落在曲细精管管腔内以及管腔内精子数量减少。有趣的是，给金属处理组动物同时给予TQ可预防睾丸的不良反应。总之，我们的数据首次表明TQ对大鼠铅诱导的睾丸组织病理学损伤具有显著的保护作用。在此基础上，TQ作为一种潜在的治疗选择值得更多关注和进一步研究。
