Effects of caffeic acid phenethyl ester and erdosteine on radiocontrast media-induced oxidative stress and histopathological changes in rat testicular tissue

The aim of this study was to determine the possible protective role of caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) and erdosteine on testicular toxicity of radiocontrast media (RCM) in rats. A total of thirty-five male Wistar albino rats were included in this study. All animals were equally and randomly divided into four groups as follows: Controls (n=10), RCM-treated (n=8), RCM + erdosteine-treated (n=7) and RCM + CAPE-treated (n=10) groups. RCM was intraperitoneally (i.p.) administered at 10 ml/kg dose. CAPE was administered i.p. at a dose of 10 μmol/kg once daily for two days. Erdosteine was orally administered at 25 mg/kg dose once daily for two days. At the end of the study, all animals were sacrificed. Testis tissues and blood samples were collected for histopathological and biochemical analysis. Catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme activity levels and the level of malondialdehyde (MDA) were measured in order to investigate the extent of oxidative stress in testicular tissues. Histopathological examination was also performed on tissue samples stained with hematoxyline-eosin by using light microscope. In RCM treated group, the mean testicular CAT activity was significantly decreased when compared with the control group (p < 0.01). It was observed that the co-administration of CAPE to RCM treated group significantly increased the mean CAT activity in testes tissues when compared with only RCM given group (p < 0.009). Co-administration of erdosteine to only RCM given group did not significantly increase the mean CAT activity level in testis tissues when compared with only RCM administered group (p>0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between the study group and controls by means of testicular SOD and MDA levels (p > 0.05). We have observed that CAPE and erdosteine exhibited protection against RCM-induced toxicity / oxidative stres and histopathological changes in testicular tissues in histopathological aspect. Taken together, current data suggest that RCM leads to oxidative stress in rat testicular tissues and CAPE may have relatively more protective effect than erdosteine in RCM-induced oxidative stress via antioxidant defence mechanisms