Ghrelin improves rat sperm kinematic parameters duringabdominal position of the testis

BACKGROUND: Disruption of testicular function and arrest of spermatogenesis are the consequence of cryptorchidism in response to elevated temperature. OBJECTIVES:This investigation was set to clarify the possible ghrelin efficacy in altering some sperm quality parameters upon experimentally-induced cryptorchidism.METHODS: Thirty male adult rats were scheduled for the study and were divided into three groups: group 1 was served as control-saline (CS), group 2 was designed as cryptorchidism-saline (CrS), and group 3 was defined as cryptorchidism-ghrelin (CrG). After surgically inducing crypt orchidism in groups 2 and 3, theresearchers gave 10 nmol of ghrelin to CrG rats for 7 consecutive days. Five animals in each group were equally killed on days 3 and 7 after operation and their testes were taken for sperm evaluation. RESULTS: Testicular weight, sperm forward progressive motility (FPM), functional membrane integrity (assessed by HOS-test), andsperm concentration displayed slight changes after heating on day 3. However, abdominal position of the testes for 7 days caused a significant reduction in the percentages of HOS-positive cells (p<0.0001), FPM (p<0.0001), and sperm concentration (p<0.01). Although a 30% decrease occurred in the testicular weight at thispoint, however, this reduction was not statistically significant. Interestingly, HOS-test and FPM percentages were significantly higher in the ghrelin-exposed animals compared to the CrS group on day 7 (p<0.05). However, ghrelin treatment had not considerable influence on sperm parameters by day 3. Moreover, spermconcentration and testicular weight did not exhibit any changes either on day 3 or at day 7 upon ghrelin injection (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Indeed, this function of ghrelin could be attributed to its antioxidant properties and it may be implicated as a potential agent in attenuation of impaired spermatogenesis after cryptorchidism

Keywords:

cryptorchidism , ghrelin , rat , spermquality