Malays. Appl. Biol. (2006) 35(2): 47–52
EFFECTS OF NICOTINE AND CO-ADMINISTRATION OF NICOTINE AND VITAMIN E ON TESTIS AND SPERM QUALITY OF ADULT RATS
MAHANEM, M.N.1*, NOR-ASMANIZA, A.B.1, PHANG, H.T.1 and MUHAMMAD, H.R.2
1 School of Biosciences and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia,
43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
2 Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
ABSTRACT
To study the effect of nicotine and palm oil vitamin E on the quality of sperm and histology of testis, adult male rats were divided into four groups of six animals. They were injected with nicotine (5mg/kg body wt/day), nicotine (5mg/kg body wt/day) + palm oil vitamin E (60mg/kg body wt/day) and palm oil vitamin E (60mg/kg body wt/day) respectively. Control group was injected with saline and fed orally with corn oil (carrier for vitamin E). Treatments were conducted for 60 days. On day 61, rats were killed by an overdose of sodium pentobarbital (i.p). Sperm collected from epididymis were used for assessment of sperm count, motility grade and morphology. Testes were fixed in Bouin’s fixative solution for histological studies. Present results indicate administration of nicotine reduced the epididymal sperm count, grade of motility and the percentage of normal sperm morphology. A sign of degeneration of testis with reduction in the number of sperm were also observed in nicotine - treated group. Co-administration with palm oil vitamin E however protects the effect of nicotine on the sperm quality and testis. In palm oil vitamin E treated group the sperm qualities were increased and the histology of testis showed that palm oil vitamin E is a potential supplement to increased male fertility. These results indicate that nicotine reduced the epididymal sperm quality and caused degeneration of testicular cells whereas vitamin E had a protective effect against the nicotine toxic effect beside increased the quality of epididymal sperm and testis.
ABSTRAK
Untuk mengkaji kesan nikotin dan vitamin E minyak kelapa sawit terhadap kualiti sperma dan histologi testis tikus jantan dewasa, tikus telah dibahagikan kepada empat kumpulan dengan enam ekor tikus jantan dewasa dalam setiap kumpulan. Setiap kumpulan masing-masing diberikan suntikan nikotin (5mg/kg berat badan/hari), nikotin (5mg/kg berat badan/hari) + vitamin E minyak kelapa sawit (60mg/kg berat badan/hari) dan vitamin E minyak kelapa sawit (60mg/kg berat badan/hari). Kumpulan kawalan pula diberikan suntikan air salin beserta minyak jagung yang diberikan secara oral (minyak jagung sebagai pembawa vitamin E). Perlakuan telah dijalankan selama 60 hari. Pada hari ke 61, tikus dimatikan dengan sodium pentobarbital (i.p) pada dos yang tinggi. Sperma epididimis telah digunakan untuk menentukan bilangan, gred motiliti dan morfologi sperma. Testis telah ditetapkan dalam larutan Bouin untuk kajian histologi. Keputusan kajian menunjukkan berlaku pengurangan bilangan, gred motiliti dan peratus sperma dengan morfologi normal. Petanda kerosakan testis dengan pengurangan bilangan sperma juga jelas ditunjukkan dalam kumpulan nikotin. Walaubagaimana pun kesan vitamin E sebagai pelindung terhadap kesan nikotin ke atas testis dan kualiti sperma seperti kumpulan yang diberikan vitamin E menunjukkan kualiti sperma yang bertambah baik. Histologi testis yang mempamerkan kepadatan sperma yang tinggi menunjukkan potensi vitamin E sebagai bahan tambah yang mampu meninggikan kesuburan lelaki. Keputusan kajian ini juga menunjukkan nikotin telah merendahkan kualiti (bilangan, gred motiliti dan morfologi) sperma epididimis dan menyebabkan kerosakan sel-sel testis sementara vitamin E pula mempunyai kesan pelindung terhadap kesan ketoksikan nikotin disamping meninggikan kualiti sperma dan testis.
Key words: nicotine, palm oil vitamin E, sperm quality, testis.
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