Pomegranate Juice Treatment Prevents Carbon Tetrachloride(ccl4)-Induced Testicular Damage in Rats: A Biochemical and Histological Study

We investigated the side effects of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) on testicular tissue and explored the protective effects of pomegranate juice (PJ) against CCl4 exposure. Twenty-eight male Wistar albino rats were randomly divided into four groups as follows: Control, PJ, CCl4, and CCl4+PJ. We assessed serum testosterone levels and evaluated carboxylesterase (CaE), malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), glutathione reductase (GR) and glutathione Stransferase (GST) parameters. Histopathological changes were examined using CD68 immunoreactivity to detect macrophage activity. Analysis revealed a significant increase in CaE activity in the PJ group that compared to the control group (p < 0.05). CCl4 exposure reduced CaE activity, which was partially restored by PJ in the CCl4+PJ group (p < 0.05). PJ also significantly reduced the elevated MDA levels induced by CCl4 (p < 0.05). CCl4 alone decreased the reduced glutathione (GSH) levels (p < 0.05), however PJ had no effect on GSH levels (p > 0.05). Neither CCl4 nor PJ had an effect on glutathione reductase (GR) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) activity (p > 0.05). In conclusion, PJ reversed histological damage and restored reduced testosterone levels. Furthermore, it alleviated CCl4-induced oxidative stress by utilizing an alternative antioxidant system rather than glutathione. Zdravljenje s sokom granatnega jabolka preprečuje poškodbe mod zaradi ogljikovega tetraklorida (CCl4) pri podganah: biokemična in histološka študija Izvleček: Raziskali smo neželene učinke ogljikovega tetraklorida (CCl4) na tkivo mod in preučili zaščitne učinke soka granatnega jabolka (PJ) ob izpostavljenosti CCl4. 28 samcev podgan wistar albino je bilo naključno razdeljenih v štiri skupine: kontrolno, PJ, CCl4 in CCl4 + PJ. Merili smo raven testosterona v serumu in ocenili parametre karboksilesteraze (CaE), malondialdehida (MDA), glutationa (GSH), glutation reduktaze (GR) in glutation S-transferaze (GST). Histopatološke spremembe so bile pregledane z uporabo imunoreaktivnosti CD68 za ugotavljanje aktivnosti makrofagov. Analiza je pokazala znatno povečanje aktivnosti CaE v skupini PJ v primerjavi s kontrolno skupino (p < 0,05). Izpostavljenost CCl4 je zmanjšala aktivnost CaE, v skupini CCl4 + PJ pa se je aktivnost CaE delno izboljšala s PJ (p < 0,05). PJ je tudi značilno znižal povišano raven MDA, ki jo je povzročil CCl4 (p < 0,05). CCl4 je zmanjšal raven reduciranega glutationa (GSH) (p < 0,05), vendar PJ ni vplival na raven GSH (p > 0,05). Niti CCl4 niti PJ nista vplivala na aktivnost glutation reduktaze (GR) in glutation S-transferaze (GST) (p > 0,05). PJ je torej odpravil histološke poškodbe in obnovil znižano raven testosterona. Poleg tega je ublažil oksidativni stres, ki ga je povzročil CCl4, tako da je namesto glutationa uporabil alternativni antioksidativni sistem. Ključne besede: toksičnost CCl4; neplodnost; sok granatnega jabolka; karboksilestraza; oksidativni stres; histopatologija