An histochemical study of the effects of immunosuppressive drug azathioprine on the cytoarchitecture of the testes of adult wistar rats (rattus norvegicus)

In this study we employed some histochemical techniques to evaluate the effect of ascorbic acid on azathioprine-induced alterations in the testis of adult Wistar rats. Male adult Wistar rats (n=30) with mean weight 210±2.65 g were assigned into four treatment (n=24) and control (n=6) groups. Animals were treated with 25 and 50 mg/kg azathioprine (AZA) alone (Grps II and IV) and in combination with 25 and 50 mg/kg ascorbic acid (Grps III and V) for 21 days while control animals received 1 ml distilled water. 24 h Post-treatment, animals were sacrificed, their testes were excised, weighed and fixed in Bouins’ fluid for histochemical studies of reticulin and collagen. The histochemical findings of testis sections indicated cyto-architectural distortions in the treated groups when compared to the control group. This findings show that ascorbic acid at doses administered did not ameliorate the damages caused by azathioprine.

Keywords:

Azathioprine , Ascorbic acid , Testis , Reticulin , Collagen