Investigation of the toxic effects of acrylamide on testicular functions and investigation of the protective role of vitamin E in offsprings WHO received acrylamide during pregnancy and postpartum

Aim: Acrylamide (ACR) is a toxic chemical for health that we are exposed to in our daily life, especially by consuming foods prepared at temperatures higher than 120 °C.In this study, it was aimed to reveal the mechanism(s) of action at the molecular level of the toxic effects of ACR in testicles and to test whether vitamin E can prevent these AKR-induced toxic effects. Material and Method: In this study, 40 adult pregnant Spraque Dawley rats weighing 200-250 g, 12 weeks old, were used. Pregnant rats were divided into 4 groups: Group 1: Control group (8 rats), Group 2: ACR group (12 rats), Group 3: Vitamin E group (8 rats), and Group 4: ACR + vitamin E group (12 rats).In this study, acrylamide and vitamin E were applied to the mother rats during pregnancy and lactation, and to the male offsprings until the 8th week after birth. At the end of the 8th week, reproductive tissues and blood samples were taken from the male offsprings of all groups. Weight measurements of the reproductive tissues, histopathological examination of testicular tissue, mRNA and protein levels of testicular and liver aromatase gene, and testosterone, estradiol, FSH and LH analyzes in serum samples were made. In addition, spermiogram analyzes of sperm samples taken from the male offsprings were performed. Results: Analysis results revealed that ACR application caused serious damage in testis, significantly decreased sperm concentration, significantly increased abnormal sperm rate, significantly decreased serum testosterone levels, significantly increased serum estradiol levels, and significantly increased aromatase protein in the liver.Vitamin E application brought the data to the control group values. Conclusion: All these results show that the application of ACR can cause significant deterioration in reproductive performance of male baby rats. Key words: Male offspring, acrylamide, testis, spermiogram, testosterone, estradiol, aromatase, RT-PCR, Western-blot.