Protective Effect of Mucuna Prurienson Fluoxetine-Induced Testicular Abnormalities in Chronic Unpredictable Stress Model in Male Rats

Fluoxetine, a popularly prescribed antidepressant.  Long-term FLX use resulted in male infertility Mucuna pruriens is a potent medicinal plant that has been used as an adjunctive therapy for male infertility. To study the protective effect of Mucuna pruriens on fluoxetine induced testicular dysfunction in chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) induced male rats, 30 Albino Wistar male rats weighing 180-250gm, aged around 3 months old were used. CUMS will be induced for the first 4 weeks. After confirming the depression, Animals were allocated into 5 groups of 6 animals each, control, CUMS, CUMS + fluoxetine, CUMS+ aqueous extract of Mucuna prureins and CUMS+ fluoxetine + aqueous extract Mucuna pruriens respectively. At the end of the treatment period, the animals were sacrificed, testes, and epididymis were removed and weighed. One of the testes was used for histology studies, while the other testis was used for testicular Malondialdehyde and Glutathione (GSH) estimation. The cauda epididymis of the rats was used to assess sperm parameters like sperm count, and sperm motility. The aqueous extract of Mucuna pruriens showed a significant improvement in testicular weight, sperm count and motility, histopathological changes, and testicular MDA and GSH level in FLX-treated and depression induced rats. Mucuna pruriens shows an improvement in sperm count, motility, lipid peroxidation which indicates its protective effect against the fluoxetine, could be due to increased endogenous level of antioxidants levels and decreasing free radical level as Mucuna pruriens is rich in flavonoids.