Abstract
Cigarette smoke (CS) can cause testicular damage and we investigated the possible protective effect of honey against CS-induced testicular damage and oxidative stress in rats. CS exposure (8 min, 3 times daily) and honey supplementation (1.2 g/kg daily) were given for 13 weeks. Rats exposed to CS significantly had smaller seminiferous tubules diameter and epithelial height, lower Leydig cell count and increased percentage of tubules with germ cell loss. CS also produced increased lipid peroxidation (TBARS) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity, as well as reduced total antioxidant status (TAS) and activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT). However, supplementation of honey significantly reduced histological changes and TBARS level, increased TAS level, as well as significantly restored activities of GPx, SOD and CAT in rat testis. These findings may suggest that honey has a protective effect against damage and oxidative stress induced by CS in rat testis.
Highlights
Cigarette smoking has been shown to be associated with abnormalities in male reproductive function such as decreased sperm count [1] and motility [2] as well as increased percentage of morphologically abnormal sperm [3] and sperm chromatin damage [4,5]
Testis in rats from control and H groups that were exposed to room air, had normal histological findings
Cigarette smoke (CS) significantly reduced seminiferous tubule diameter and epithelial height, and Leydig cell count, as well as significantly increased the percentage of tubule with germ cell loss in rats from CS group, as compared to control and H groups. These parameters were found to be significantly improved in rats supplemented with honey and exposed to CS (H + CS group)
Summary
Cigarette smoking has been shown to be associated with abnormalities in male reproductive function such as decreased sperm count [1] and motility [2] as well as increased percentage of morphologically abnormal sperm [3] and sperm chromatin damage [4,5]. It has been postulated that CS produces oxidative stress as there is a significantly higher level of malonaldehyde, a marker of lipid peroxidation, in rat testis after 45 days of exposure to CS as compared to controls. This is associated with a significantly lower glutathione level and activity of glutathione peroxidase in rat testis [9]. It has been reported that honey contains moisture and carbohydrates including sugars such as fructose and glucose [10]. It contains enzymes such as catalase and glutathione reductase, minerals such as iron and zinc, vitamins such as vitamins A and E as well as phenolic compounds and organic acids [11,12,13,14,15]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
