Derya Karabulut; Ali Tugrul Akın; Meryem Sayan; Emin Kaymak; Emel Ozturk & Birkan Yakan

This study aimed to investigate the changes in testis tissue of thioacetamide-induced rats and the effect of melatonin on these changes. Thirty-five male Wistar Albino rats were divided into five groups. Group I; Control (n=7), Group II; Melatonin (Mel) (10 mg/kg) a single dose (i.p)(n=7), Group III; Thioacetamide (TAA) (300 mg/kg) (i.p) 2 times with 24 hour intervals (n=7), Group IV; TAA (300 mg/kg) was administered at 24-hour intervals, afterwards of 10 mg/kg single dose of Mel (n=7), Group V; Mel was administered 10 mg/kg a single dose 24 hours before the administration of TAA (n=7). Testis was evaluated histologically, immunohistochemically (Heat Shock Proteins (HSP) 70 and 90), blood serum testosterone, total antioxidant status(TAS) and total oxidant status(TOS) in tissue. The tissue sections of Group III decreased seminiferous tubule diameters, and germinal epithelium spills were observed. HSP70 and HSP90 expressions were increased. There wasn’t a statistically significant change in testosterone levels among the groups. While TAS levels decreased in Group III compared to control, TOS levels didn’t change. HSP70 and HSP90 decreased in groups with Mel-treated. Mel was found to have both protective and therapeutic effects. According to our results, the therapeutic effect of Mel in thioacetamide- induced acute testicular injury is greater than its protective effect.

KEY WORDS: Thioacetamide; Melatonin; Heat shock proteins; Testis.

KARABULUT, D.; AKIN, A. T.; SAYAN, M.; KAYMAK, E.; OZTURK, E. & YAKAN, B. Effects of melatonin against thioacetamide- induced testicular toxicity in rats. Int. J. Morphol., 38(5):1455-1462, 2020.