ACTA ENDOCRINOLOGICA (BUC)

Diabetes mellitus is associated with impairment of testicular functions.\r\nAim. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of ethyl pyruvate (EP) on the testicular tissue damage in rats\r\nwith streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes.\r\nSubjects and methods. Thirty-two Wistar albino male rats were assigned into four equal groups as follows: (1) control\r\ngroup (n:8); (2) EP-treated non-diabetic group (n:8); (3) diabetic group (n:8); and (4) EP-treated diabetic group (n:8). Rats with STZ-induced diabetes were kept alive for 14\r\nweeks. After that, the EP solution was administered intraperitoneally to the rats in the EP-treated non-diabetic and diabetic groups at the dose of 50 mg/kg twice daily\r\nfor 14 days. At the end of this period, the left testes were removed from the rats for malondialdehyde (MDA) analysis, and the right testes were removed for histological\r\nexamination.\r\nResults. As compared with the control group, the diabetic group had elevated MDA levels (210.9?12.7) and increased\r\nthickness of the basement membrane of the seminiferous tubules (3.01?0.16), but decreased tubular diameter (159?9.0) and Johnsen?s score (5.31?0.1). In the EPtreated\r\ndiabetic group, diabetes-induced impairment was significantly improved.\r\nConclusion. These findings indicate that EP shows protective effects against diabetes-induced testicular dysfunction.