Protective effects of royal jelly against testicular damage in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.

BACKGROUND/AIM TO examine the effects of royal jelly (RJ) on testicular damage in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS Eighteen adult Wistar albino rats were used, 6 in each of the 3 treatment groups: Group A: control, Group B: STZ-induced diabetes (untreated), Group C: STZ-induced diabetes plus RJ (400 mg/kg daily for 4 weeks). Diabetes was induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of STZ (60 mg/kg). Four weeks after the onset of diabetes, testicular apoptotic cell death was examined using immunohistochemical staining for caspase-3 and Ki67 staining for localization of proliferative cells. RESULTS Compared with the control, the body and testicular weights of the RJ-treated and untreated diabetic rats were decreased (P < 0.05). The histopathological examination showed a significant increase in degenerative changes in the seminiferous tubules and in spermatogenesis of the STZ-treated rats. In contrast, the RJ treatment group showed near-normal morphology, in addition to an increased intensity of immunohistochemical staining for Ki67-positive cells. CONCLUSION Diabetes induced a significant increase in testicular apoptotic cell death (caspase-3-positive cells). Caspase-3-positive cells were significantly decreased in the STZ plus RJ-treated group compared with the untreated STZ-induced diabetic group (P < 0.05).