Alpha-Lipoic Acid Mitigates Copper Sulfate-Induced Male Reproductive Toxicity in Albino Rats

A total of 40 albino rats, all about a month old and weighing between 200 and 220 grams, were randomly split into four groups for the experiment. In the first group, the rats received a daily dose of 40 mg of CuSO4/kg BW via stomach tube for two months. The second group was administered 40 mg/kg BW CuSO4 through a stomach tube and 100 mg/kg BW intraperitoneal once-daily injections of alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) for two months. The third group received intraperitoneal injections of alpha-lipoic acid at a dose of 100 mg/kg BW once daily for two months, whereas the fourth group, which served as the control group, received intraperitoneal injections of 0.2 ml of normal saline once daily for two months. After two months, all of the animals were sacrificed, and the testes and epididymis were removed for histological analysis. Based on the results of the first group, the amount of spermatogonia, spermatocytes, spermatozoa, and Leydig cells in the testicles of male albino rats exposed to CuSo4 was statistically lower (p  0.05 ). Rats exposed to CuSO4 with lipoic acid (2nd group) had significantly higher levels of spermatogonia, spermatocytes, spermatozoa, and Leydig cells compared to the 1st group, in which CuSO4 alone significantly (p  0.05 ) decreased these parameters compared with the control group. In rats treated with just lipoic acid, however, the increase in spermatogonial cells, spermatocytes, spermatozoa, and Leydig cells was not statistically significant compared to the control group (4th group). Whereas these microscopic pathological changes showed severe toxicological lesion in both testes and epididymis of rats in the 1st group (CuSo4 group) if compared to a control group and other experimental groups. These lesions due to the toxic effects of CuSo4 on the male reproductive toxicity. ALA's preventive and ameliorative impact against the toxicity of CuSo4 resulted in the second group (CuSo4 plus ALA) exhibiting much more favorable and healing changes than the first group.