Studies on arsenic toxicity in male rat gonads and its protection by high dietary protein supplementation.

Abstract

Arsenic was given orally to rats as arsenic tri oxide, 3mg /kg body wt/day in a single dose for 28 consecutive days. This treatment in male Wistar rats caused increase in seminiferous tubular luminal size coupled with reduced accumulation of spermatozoa, and signs of necrotic changes with disarray in cellular organization. Other significant changes were decrease in sperm count, viability and motility (p<0.001). On high protein diet (containing pea 37gm/100 gm of diet and casein 9gm/100gm of diet) supplementation along with same arsenic exposure caused partial restoration of normalcy. All these sperm physiological changes and altered gonadal features, both histomorphometric and histological observations, were found significantly ameliorated. Results of this study propose that high protein diet supplementation may be effective to recovery from the toxic effect of arsenic on male gonad of rat.