The effects of curcumin against testicular injuryconstituted from nandrolone dacanoate being used at a supraphysiogical dosage

Anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) are synthetic analogs of testosterone. Anabolic androgenic steroids are used by athletes for improving athletic ability, physical appearance and muscle mass for such as like aims which abused. The most commonly used AAS derivative is Nandrolone Decanoate (ND). ND use can causes testicular atrophy and impaired spermatogenesis. ND can cause infertility by reducing the quality and quantity of sperm. Several adverse negative clinical results, such as infertility caused by ND, have been associated with DNA damage. Through the release of inflammatory cytokines and the inducing apoptosis which lead to structural defect in DNA, ND has been seen to induce testicular damage. Curcumin has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties has been reported in many studies. This study was conducted to investigate the affects of curcumin in testicular damage caused by ND. 40 Wistar albino rats were divided into 4 groups: Control group received single weekly injections of peanut oil/benzyl alcohol mixture (90:10 v/v) and daily dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) oral gavage, ND group received 10 mg/kg/weekly ND and daily DMSO, Curcumin group received curcumin 100 mg/kg/day and single weekly peanut oil/benzyl alcohol mixture, ND+C group received 10 mg/kg/weekly ND and daily curcumin 100 mg/kg/day for 8 weeks. At the end of the study, all rats were sacrificed. The testes and epididymis were rapidly removed and weighed in addition all rats body weight were mainly detected for the duration of the study. We tested semen parameters. Histopathological examinations were performed on sections of testes after stained by Hematoxylin-Eosin and Periodic Acid Schiff (PAS). Cosentino score was tested in H-E stained preparations. The changes at the expression levels of PARP-1, Caspase-3, Nf-κB and TNF-α markers as inflammatory markers on analyzed immunohistochemically. The result of our study showed usage of ND increases DNA damage and apoptosis in the testis, decreases the quality of sperm and causes infertility, tissue damage and inflammation. Curcumin has a positive effect on preventing this damage. Key Words: Nandrolone Decanoate, Curcumin, PARP-1, Caspaz-3, TNF-α, Nf-κB