Plantain-based diet modulates atrazine-induced testicular toxicities in rats

Abstract

Objective: To assess the potential of plantain-based diet in modulating testicular toxicities in rats exposed to atrazine.

Methods: The plantain-based diet at 50%, 25% and 12.5% were prepared from the basal diet by substituting the corn starch with plantain fruit pulp flour at different percentages. Wistar rats were fed plantain-based diet in varying concentrations ranging from 12.5% to 50% of the basal diet for 21 days before or after atrazine treatment in a two-phase experiment: preventive and therapeutic phases. The therapeutic model (n=35) had seven groups with 5 rats each, including the control, atrazine, atrazine recovery, atrazine plus plantain-based diet 50%, 25%, 12.5%, and atrazine plus quercetin groups. The preventive model (n=30) had six groups of 5 rats, consisting of the control, atrazine, 50%, 25%, 12.5% plantain-based diet plus atrazine, and quercetin plus atrazine groups. Gonadal hormones (testosterone, luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone), sperm parameters (sperm motility, viability, morphology and concentration), and testicular function indices (protein, cholesterol, glycogen, acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase and lactate dehydrogenase) were measured.

Results: The gonadal hormones, sperm characteristics, and testicular function indices of the rat testis decreased significantly in the atrazine group alongside degeneration of the histoarchitecture. However, plantain-based diet restored the gonadal hormone concentrations, semen parameters, and testicular function indices in both the preventive and therapeutic models.

Conclusions: Treatment with plantain-based diet protects against rat testicular toxicity caused by atrazine via the modulation of gonadal hormones, sperm quality, testicular function index as well as histoarchitecture of rat testes.

Keywords

Plantain / Atrazine / Endocrine disruptor / Environmental toxicants / Medicinal biochemistry / Testicular toxicity

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Acknowledgements

Authors' appreciation goes to Landmark University, Nigeria.

Funding

This study received no extramural funding.

Data availability statement

The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding authors upon request.

Authors' contributions

Damilare Emmanuel Rotimi conceived and designed the study, Damilare Emmanuel Rotimi and Oluyomi Stephen Adeyemi collaborated in the discussion of the results. All authors wrote the manuscript and provided administrative support and critically revised the manuscript. All the authors have approved the final manuscript.

Publisher' s Note

The Publisher of the Journal remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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