ارزیابی اثرات محافظتی عصاره هیدروالکلی میوه هندوانه ابوجهل در برابر تغییرات ناشی از دوکسوروبیسین در بافت بیضه، خصوصیات اسپرم و ت

Clinical use of doxorubicin (DOX), a potent and widely used antineoplastic drug, is limited by non-target tissue damages. The aim of this study was to determine the possible protective effects of Citrullus colocynthis fruit hydroalcoholic extract (CCE) on reproductive toxicities (RTs) evoked by DOX administration in mice. A total of 36 adult male mice were randomly divided into groups of 6 animals per group. Doxorubicin was administered to four groups of mice in 6 equal intraperitoneal injections over a period of 5 weeks (accumulated dose of 9 mg/kg). Three DOX-treated groups received CCE at a dose of 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg intraperitoneally four hours after DOX treatment, respectively. Vehicle-treated control group and CCE-only treated group were also included. Epididymal sperms characteristics and in vitro fertilizing potential as well as changes in testicular histoarchitecture were evaluated after 35 days. The DOX-only treated group showed significant decreases in the testes weight and epididymal sperms quantity, quality and in vitro fertilizing capacity along with hypospermatogenesis and destructive changes in testicular tissue. Noticeably, concomitant administration of CCE with DOX restored abovementioned parameters toward normal values in a dose-dependent manner. DOX-induced RTs in mice could be reversed by CCE in a dose-dependent manner, suggesting a possible potential role for CCE in amelioration of chemotherapy induced adverse reproductive effects.