Effects of dexpanthenol against cyclophosphamide-induced reproductive damage in male rats

Aim: In our study, we aimed to investigate the effects of dexpanthenol against cyclophosphamide-induced reproductive damage by histopathologic, immunohistochemical and biochemical methods. Material and Methods: 32 Wistar Albino rats were used in our study (n=8). The groups were designated as Control, Cyclophosphamide (CP), Cyclophosphamide+Dexpanthenol (CP+Dex), and Dexpanthenol (Dex). At the end of the experiment, testicular tissues were embedded in paraffin after standard tissue processing procedures. Sections with a thickness of 5 µm were obtained and stained with Hematoxylin-Eosin (H-E) and caspase-3 staining methods. The sections were examined using a Leica DFC 280 light microscope and Leica Qwin Plus analysis system. Results: Testicular tissues of Control and Dex groups were observed to have a normal histological structure with Hematoxylin-Eosin staining method. In the CP group, testicular tissue exhibited vascular congestion, significant hemorrhage in the interstitial area, reduction in spermatogenic series cells, shedding into tubular lumen, vacuolization, edema in the interstitial area, and cells arrested at any stage of division in tubular epithelium. On the other hand, dexpanthenol reduced these histopathological damages. Our findings indicated that CP administration led to a decrease in seminiferous tubule diameters and epithelial thicknesses. We observed intense Caspase-3 positive cells in the CP treated group, while there was a significant decrease in staining intensity in the CP+Dex group. We found that CP administration significantly increased sperm motility, concentration, and abnormal sperm count (head, tail, total), which decreased with dexpanthenol treatment. Biochemical analyses revealed a decrease in MDA, GSH, SOD, GPx, and CAT levels with CP administration, whereas these values increased with dexpanthenol treatment. Conclusion: This study demonstrated the therapeutic effects of dexpanthenol against reproductive damage induced by cyclophosphamide. Key words: Caspase-3, Cyclophosphamide, Dexpanthenol, Rat, Testis.