Hailah M. Almohaimeed; Muna Omer Alamoudi; Hani A Al.Turkistani; Rasha Assiri; Huda H.Eltayeb; Sami Alonazi & Abdullah M. Alshaer
Diabetes mellitus is associated with structural and functional alterations in endocrine and reproductive tissues. This study evaluated the histomorphological, hormonal, and molecular effects of Cissus rotundifolia extract compared with metformin on testicular and thyroid tissues in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Forty male Wistar rats were divided into control and experimental groups, including diabetic untreated and diabetic treated groups receiving Cissus rotundifolia (100 mg/kg) or metformin (150 mg/kg) for eight weeks. Histological examination of hematoxylin and eosin-stained sections revealed marked degeneration of seminiferous tubules, germinal epithelial loss, and follicular cell disruption in the thyroid glands of diabetic rats. These alterations were significantly ameliorated in treated groups, with restoration of seminiferous architecture, improved spermatogenic layers, and normalization of thyroid follicular structure. Hormonal analysis demonstrated that diabetes-induced reductions in TSH and alterations in T4 were substantially corrected following treatment. Molecular analysis showed upregulation of antioxidant markers (Nrf2, SOD) and glucose metabolism-related genes (GLUT4, PPARg), along with decreased expression of inflammatory markers (IL-6, TNF-α) in treated groups. These findings suggest that Cissus rotundifolia exerts protective effects against diabetes-induced structural damage in testicular and thyroid tissues, comparable to metformin, likely through modulation of oxidative stress and inflammatory pathways.
KEY WORDS: Diabetes mellitus; Cissus rotundifolia; Metformin; Testicular tissue; Thyroid tissue; Oxidative stress; Histopathology; Rats.
ALMOHAIMEED, H. M.; ALAMOUDI, M. O.; AL.TURKISTANI, H. A.; ASSIRI, R.; ELTAYEB, H. H.; ALONAZI, S. & ALSHAER, A. M. Histomorphological and endocrine-molecular assessment of Cissus rotundifolia and metformin in testicular and thyroid tissues of diabetic rats. Int. J. Morpholol., 44(3):913-923, 2026.
