Introduction: Infertility is one of the major obesity hazards. High fat diet has been found to affect epidydimal sperm count, motility, and morphology. Moringa Oleifera was used in some studies to alleviate some fertility-related problems.
Aim of the Work: To study the effect of high fat diet on the histological structure of the epididymis of adult albino rats and the possible protective role of moringa oleifera.
Material and Methods: Thirty male adult albino rats were divided into three groups, Group I (control group): was further subdivided into two subgroups IA: negative control & subgroup IB: rats were fed on standard diet and received moringa oleifera 400 mg/kg/day. Group II (high fat diet group):received high fat diet for eight weeks. Group III (Moringa Olreifera group): received high fat diet together with moringa oleifera 400mg/kg/day for eight weeks. At the end of experiment, all rats were sacrificed. Epididymis was bilaterally harvested, weighted and processed for both light & transmission electronic microscopic examination.
Results: H&E sections of epididymis of the high fat diet group showed irregular tubules, with flattened epithelium and significant decrease in sperms' content in the lumen of most tubules. Many clear and halo cells were observed. EM sections showed degenerated principal cells, dark irregular basal cells with many vacuoles. In moringa oleifera group, H&E sections showed rounded to oval tubules with increase in sperms' content in their lumina. No halo cells were detected. EM sections showed principal cells with many mitochondria, few vacuoles and clear demarcations between cells. Basal cell with oval nuclei and clear cells with granules were detected.
Conclusion: High fat diet had degenerative effects on the histology of epididymis but moringa oleifera had a significant role in alleviating these hazards.