THE TESTIS is considered as one of the most sensitive organs in the body to ionizing radiation because of the rapidly dividing germinal epithelium. Seminal oxidative stress (OS) causes damage of the sperm plasma membrane and loss of its DNA integrity, therefore, the need for an effective therapeutic agent is evident. The present study investigated the mechanism(s) of potential therapeutic effect of ferulic acid (FA) on radiation-induced testicular damage.
Mature male albino rats were either exposed to single dose γ-radiation (5Gy) and/ or treated with FA (50mg/ kg body wt, orally), daily for seven days post-irradiation. FA significantly reversed OS effects of γ-rays that was evidenced by increasing malondialdehyde (MDA) and decreasing ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and catalase (CAT) activity. In addition, alterations in some trace elements such as zinc (Zn), cupper (Cu), iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) were observed. Furthermore, sperm head abnormalities noticeably increased in the γ-irradiated group; in contrast, FA treatment ameliorated these alterations.
In conclusion, FA exhibited curative effect against radiation induced testicular damage.