Phenylhydrazine-induced anemia in mice and its effect on testicular tissue and sperm parameters; evidence for protective effect of royal Jelly versus vitamin C

Introduction: Phenylhydrazine (PHZ) is used to prepare indoles and to form phenylhydrazines of natural mixtures of simple sugars. However, it is used to induce experimental anemia in animal models. On the other hand royal jelly is known as antioxidant compound. Therefore, here in present study we aimed to evaluate the protective effect of royal jelly on PHZ-induced damages at testicular and sperms level and compare its impact with vitamin C. Materials andMethods: Eighteen mature male mice were randomly divided into 3 groups. In order to induce experimental anemia, PHZ was administrated at dose of 8 mg/kg, ip and then it was continued as 6 mg/kg, every 48 hours, ip in all groups. The test groups subdivided into non-treated PHZ-received, royal jelly-received (100 mg/kg, orally) and vitamin C-received (250 mg/kg, ip). After 35 days, the tubular differentiation (TDI), spermiogenesis (SPI) indexes were evaluated. Sperm count; motility and DNA integrity were analyzed by using light and fluorescent microscopes, respectively. Results: Royal jelly reduced PHZ-increased percentage of tubules with negative TDI and SPI. No significant differences were observed between royal jelly and vitamin C. Comparing the sperm parameters showed that royal jelly similar to vitamin C (P<0.05) improved sperm count, motility and reduced sperm DNA damage. Conclusion: Our data showed that royal jelly exerts similar effects like vitamin C as an antioxidant agent and can be considered as an appropriate compound in order to inhibit anemia-induced damages at testicles and sperm levels.

Phenylhydrazine, Royal Jelly, Vitamin C, Testicular Tissue, Sperm, DNA damage