ABSTRACT
Objective: epididymo-orchitis [EO] potentially results in reduced fertility in up to 60% of affected patients. The anti-inflammatory effects of Korean red ginseng [KRG] and its ability to act as an immunoenhancer in parallel with the beneficial effects of this ancient herbal medicine on the reproductive systems of animals and humans led us to evaluate its protective effects against acute EO
Materials and Methods: this animal experimental study was conducted in the Department of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences [ZUMS], Zanjan, Iran during 2013-2015. We divided 50 Wistar rats into five following groups [n=10 per group]: i. Control-intact animals, ii. Vehicle-phosphate buffered saline [PBS] injection into the vas deferens, iii. KRG-an intraperitoneal [IP] injection of KRG, iv. EO-an injection of uropathogenic Escherichia coli [UPEC] strain M39 into the vas deferens, and v. EO/ KRG-injections of both UPEC strain M39 and KRG. The treatment lasted seven days. We then evaluated sperm parameters, number of germ cell layers, Johnson's criteria, germ cell apoptosis, body weight and relative sex organs weight
Results: acute EO increased the relative weight of prostate and seminal vesicles [P
Conclusion: consequently, KRG ameliorated the devastating effects of EO on the sperm retrieved from either epididymis or testicle in rats