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

Abstract

In this study weemployed some histochemical techniques to evaluate the effect of ascorbic acidon azathioprine-induced alterations in the testis of adult Wistar rats. Maleadult Wistar rats (n=30) with mean weight 210±2.65 g were assigned into fourtreatment (n=24) and control (n=6) groups. Animals were treated with 25 and 50mg/kg azathioprine (AZA) alone (Grps II and IV) and in combination with 25 and50 mg/kg ascorbic acid (Grps III and V) for 21 days while control animalsreceived 1 ml distilled water. 24 h Post-treatment, animals were sacrificed,their testes were excised, weighed and fixed in Bouins’ fluid for histochemicalstudies of reticulin and collagen. The histochemical findings of testissections indicated cyto-architectural distortions in the treated groups whencompared to the control group. This findings show that ascorbic acid at dosesadministered did not ameliorate the damages caused by azathioprine.