Histomorphometric effects of Kigelia africana (Bignoniaceae) fruit extract on the testis following short-term treatment with cisplatin in male Sprague–Dawley rats

To investigate the short-term effects of Kigelia africana fruit extract (KAFE) on cisplatin-induced testicular histo-morphometric changes in Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats. This is an experimental animal study. Fifty-seven male SD rats were acclamatized and grouped into 10 of five rats per group. Each rat was administered either KAFE in 100 and 500mg/kg doses orally or cisplatin 10mg/kg i.p. or normal saline to controls. Experiment was terminated after 28days by i.p. injection of ketamin 50mg/kg. Testicular tissue was processed for histological and morphometric analyses while catalase enzyme activity, lipid peroxidation and glutathione levels were assayed accordingly. Sperm count/motility was also assessed. Cisplatin treatment caused over 37.5% mortality of SD rats. Qualitative histological assessment showed no deleterious changes following treatment with KAFE alone or as a pre-treatment with cisplatin. KAFE post-treatment resulted in focal vacuolar changes in the seminiferous tubules (ST) of the SD rats. Cisplatin-treatment negatively affected the histoarchitecture of the seminiferous tubules with massive loss of spermatogenic cells. There was also a significant reduction in testicular weight/volume, ST diameter and cross-sectional areas (P