Association of cyclosporine and Heteropterys aphrodisiaca (no-de-cachorro) administered to Wistar rats : testicular structure, ultrastructure and morphometry / Associação de ciclosporina e Heteropterys aphrodisiaca (no-de-cachorro) adminstrados a ratos wistar : estrutura, ultra-estrutura e morfometria testicular

Juliana Castro Monteiro

Cyclosporine A (CsA) has potent immunosuppressive properties and it has markedly improved the ability of transplant patients to survive grafts and is also used in some autoimmune diseases. However, the drug has several side effects, including testicular toxicity, leading to male infertility (and temporary impotence). Stimulant and aphrodisiac properties has been attributed to the plant, Heteropterys aphrodisiaca. Data from other experiments suggests that the root extract can increase body and testicular weight and the volume of Leydig cells in rat testis. Thus, the present work was undertaken to study the association of the drug and the medicinal herb in Wistar rats, evaluating testicular morphometry, structure and ultrastructure. Thirty adult rats were used, divided into five groups: I- control; II? CsA; III? simultaneous use of CsA and H. aphrodisiaca; IV- H. aphrodisiaca for 30 days and CsA sequentially for another 26 days; V- H. aphrodisiaca. CsA was administered at a dose of 15 mg/kg/day and/or H. aphrodisiaca at a dose of 0.5 ml of the infusion prepared with 25g of roots/100ml boiling water, daily by gavage, during 56 days. Increased body weight was observed for all groups, but the animals that received CsA for 56 days showed the smallest body weight gain. The testis and accessory sex organs weights were unchanged. The volume and volumetric proportion of seminiferous tubules and interstitial compartments did not alter in all treated groups. Morphometry showed increased connective tissue volumetric proportion and decreased Leydig cell volumetric proportion in CsA-treated rats. The Leydig cells of CsA-treated animals were smaller and more dense than other groups. On the other hand, the H. aphrodisiaca infusion resulted in an increase in Leydig cell nuclear volume. The plasma testosterone levels and number of Leydig cells per testis increased significantly in group III. Using transmission electron microscopy, it was possible to ascertain that CsA caused germ cell degeneration, Sertoli cell vacuolization, abnormal round spermatids and atrophy of the organelles involved in steroid synthesis in Leydig cells. H. aphrodisiaca caused Sertoli cell vacuolization, loss of germ cell attachment and expanded intercellular spaces between germ cells and Leydig cells with more mitochondria and smooth endoplasmic reticulum. The simultaneous and sequential treatment with H. aphrodisiaca and CsA was effective in maintaining the Leydig cell ultrastructure. In these treatments, the seminiferous epithelium alterations were a combination of the modifications observed for each isolated treatment. However it can be stated that H. aphrodisiaca had a protective effect on the testicular tissue, since less severe modifications were found for this group in relation to the rats that received only CsA.

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