Prevention of di [2-ethylhexyl] phthalate-induced testicular disturbance in mice by Co-administration of L-carnitine

di [2-ethylhexyl] phthalate [DEHP] is widely used in the plastic industry and can induce reproductive toxicity. On the other hand, L-carnitine [LC] plays a crucial role in sperm metabolism and maturation. This study evaluates the effect of LC on body and testis weight, testis tissue, count, motility, viability, morphology, and chromatin quality of epididymal sperm, testicular spermatid number [TSN] per gram testis and daily sperm production [DSP] in LC-treated mice. In this experimental study, adult male NMRI mice [mean age: 4 weeks] were given doses of DEHP and LC by gavaging for 2 weeks. All samples were assessed according to World Health Organization [WHO] criteria. Sperm morphology was assessed using Papanicolaou staining and sperm chromatin quality by aniline-blue staining. The left testes were fixed in Bouin? solution for histological examination and the end slices were stained with hematoxylin and eosin [H and E]. The right testes were homogenized, and then TSN and DSP were calculated with an improved Neubauer haemocytometer and respective frames. Paired t-test, ANOVA, and Kruskal-Wallis tests were utilized for data analysis. Co-administration of DEHP and LC not only prevented significant gains in testicular weight, but also maintained the sperm's normal morphology and chromatin quality [p<0.05]. In addition, LC recovered histological changes, TSN, DSP, and sperm count. These results demonstrated that oral administration of LC partially or generally protects spermatogenesis from DEHP-toxicity in mice

[Histopathological study of Di-[2-ethylhexyl] phthalate [DEHP] on testes in mouse]

Di-[2-ethylhexyl] phthalate [DEHP] is plasticizer used commonly in a variety of polyvinyl chloride- based consumable products. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of DEHP on body weight, testis weight, seminiferous tubular diameter, seminiferous epithelium height, seminiferous lumen diameter, number of sertoli cells and round spermatids per seminiferous tubule in mice. The protocol for DEHP administration was that adult male NMRI mice [the age group of 4 weeks] received 2g DEHP/100 micro l corn oil/kg, and vehicle group received 100 micro l corn oil/ kg by gavage for 14 days. The control group did not receive DEHP. All animals were weighed on the first and terminal day of the experiment. The left and right without fat testis, weights were recorded for each animal. Left testis was fixed in Bouins solution, routinely processed for embedding in paraffin and staining of 5 micro m sections with hematoxilin and eosin [H and E] for histopathological examination. Administration of DEHP induced the reduction of body and testis weight significantly [p<0.05]. Furthermore, DEHP decreased the seminiferous tubular diameter, seminiferous epithelium height, and seminiferous lumen diameter. The number of sertoli cells and round spermatids in seminiferous tubule was significantly low, compared with control group. These results demonstrated that DEHP administration has toxicant effects on body and testis weight, spermatogenesis process, along with male reproductive system