Background: Aluminum chloride (AlCl3) is an environmental xenobiotic that induces free radical-mediated cytotoxic and reproductive toxicity. Nigella sativa oil (NSO) is an antioxidative agent reported to be important for detoxification.
Aim: This study aimed to investigate the possible role of NSO in ameliorating the toxic effect of AlCl3 on the histological structure of the testis in male rats.
Materials and methods: This study was carried out on 40 adult male rats, divided into four equal groups: group I, which served as the control group; group II (the AlCl3-exposed group), which received AlCl3 daily at a dose of 320 mg/kg/l in drinking water through a gastric tube for 1.5 months; group III (the AlCl3+NSO-treated group), which received NSO at a dose of 1 ml/kg orally concomitantly with AlCl3 for 1.5 months; group IV (the withdrawal group), which received only AlCl3 at the same dose for 1.5 months, after which the animals were left untreated for another 1.5 months. The animals of each group were processed for light and transmission electron microscopic study. Morphometric and statistical analyses were conducted.
Results: Compared with the control group, administration of AlCl3 revealed significant changes in the seminiferous tubules, which appeared shrunken with disorganized germinal epithelium. Cellular vacuolations as well as sloughed spermatogenic cells into the lumen were observed. The interstitium was widened with interstitial hyperplasia. Ultrastructural examination of the AlCl3-exposed group revealed cells with dense cytoplasm and heterochromatic nuclei. Late differentiating spermatids showed deformed heads with widening of the subacrosomal space and redundant acrosome. Concomitant administration of NSO with AlCl3 showed amelioration of most of the histological changes in the AlCl3-intoxicated group. The withdrawal group showed persistence of many structural changes noticed in the AlCl3-intoxicated group with a significant difference compared with the AlCl3+NSO-treated group.
Conclusion: NSO played a protective role against AlCl3-induced testicular damage.
