P–061 Protective effect of melatonin against bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin (BEP) chemotherapy-induced testicular toxicity in Wistar rats: A biochemical, immunohistochemical and apoptotic genes based evidence

Abstract Study question Does exogenous melatonin (MLT) attenuate BEP-induced damage in testicular cells and spermatogenesis in a dose-dependent manner? Summary answer Melatonin protected the testes against BEP-induced testis damage through ameliorating nitro-oxidative stress, apoptosis, and inflammation. However, there was no significant difference between melatonin-treated groups. What is known already Recently, the prevalence of testicular cancer (TC), accounting for the most common cancer among young people of reproductive age (15–40 years), has risen internationally. BEP chemotherapy has increased the 5-year survival rate of TC patients at all stages of testicular germ cell tumors to 90–95%. However, BEP creates a high incidence of male infertility and even long-term genotoxic effects, which emerges as a critical health issue. Melatonin is a well-known potent antioxidant with widespread clinical applications that recently has been giving increasing attention to its role in male sub/infertility. Study design, size, duration 60 Adult male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to six groups (n = 10/group). Group 1, 3, and 4 were injected with vehicle, 10 and 20 mg/kg of melatonin, respectively. Other groups received one cycle of bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin for a total of 3 weeks with or without melatonin. Melatonin administration started daily one week before BEP initiation continued on days 2, 9, and 16; and one week after the completion of the BEP cycle. Participants/materials, setting, methods Bodyweight, testes weight, Sperm parameters (count, motility, viability, and morphology), testosterone hormone level, testicular histopathology, stereological parameters, testicular level of malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO), and total antioxidant capacity (TAC), the expression of Bcl–2, Bax, Caspase–3, p53, and TNF-α (Real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry) were evaluated at the end of the study (day 35). Main results and the role of chance Our findings showed that melatonin restores the BEP-induced reduction in the body and testes weight (P