Effects of high and moderate intensity exercise training on sex hormones and testicular damage induced by cisplatin in rats

Cisplatin, a potent chemotherapeutic agent, induces oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis in the testes, reduces sex hormones (testosterone, LH, FSH), and impairs sperm quality and structure. MICT typically increases testicular function and hormone levels, whereas HIIT may negatively affect steroidogenesis and the HPG axis, although findings vary. This study investigates the effects of HIIT and MICT on reducing cisplatin-induced testicular damage in rat, providing a noninvasive approach to preserve fertility for chemotherapy patients. In this randomized controlled experimental study twenty-four eight-week-old Sprague Dawley rats (200–240 g) were randomly assigned into four groups (n = 6 per group): healthy control (HC), cisplatin control (CC), Cisplatin-moderate intensity continuous training (C-MICT) and Cisplatin-high intensity interval training (C-HIIT). Except for the HC group, in other groups, 5 mg/kg of cisplatin was injected intraperitoneally as a single dose. HIIT involved alternating high-speed intervals (54 m/min, 30s) with recovery (40 m/min, 3 min), progressing to 20 intervals per session; MICT consisted of continuous running at 27 m/min for up to 60 min, both performed 6 days/week. Sex hormones, histological parameters of testicular tissue, sperm parameters and oxidant/lipid-peroxide were measured. Cisplatin injection caused a significant decrease in LH, FSH, and testosterone compared to the HC group (P ≤ 0.0001). C-MICT and C-HIIT significantly increased LH (P ≤ 0.0001), FSH (P = 0.001), and testosterone (P ≤ 0.003) compared to CC groups. C-HIIT significantly increased LH (P ≤ 0.001) and testosterone (P ≤ 0.0001) compared to C-MICT groups. C-HIIT and C-MICT significantly improve sperm parameters such as sperm count, sperm morphology and progressively motile sperm, testicular weight and volume, lipid peroxide, and antioxidant level (P ≤ 0.05) and reverse the cisplatin injection effects. HIIT and MICT both effectively mitigate cisplatin-induced testicular damage by improving sex hormone levels, sperm quality, and histological parameters. HIIT demonstrated comparable or superior benefits to MICT in certain outcomes, suggesting that exercise training may serve as a valuable non-pharmacological strategy to preserve testicular function during chemotherapy.