The impact of deltamethrin on the testicular structure of adult male albino rats and the possible protective role of lutein: a histological, immunohistochemical, and ultrastructural study

Lutein provides a promising approach to protect the testes against damage induced by deltamethrin. The current study was applied to investigate the protective effect of lutein on the testis of adult male albino rats against testicular toxicity induced by deltamethrin. Sixty adult male albino rats were randomly allocated into six experimental groups. Group I served as control, group II received lutein (40 mg/kg/day orally), group III received deltamethrin (5 mg/kg/day orally), group IV received deltamethrin (5 mg/kg/day orally) concomitant with lutein (40 mg/kg/day orally), all for 4 weeks. Group V received lutein (40 mg/kg/day) throughout 8 weeks, whereas deltamethrin was given at week 5 till the end of week 8. Group VI served as a withdrawal group in which animals received deltamethrin for four weeks, followed by a four-week treatment-free period to assess the reversibility of its toxic effects. Biochemical, histological, and ultrastructural techniques were used to evaluate the testicular changes. Deltamethrin-treated rats showed decreased serum testosterone. Testicular tissue exhibited pronounced histopathological changes. Histopathological examination of testicular tissue showed that apoptosis was observed in the basal germ cells, primary and secondary spermatocytes. The testes exhibited distorted Sertoli cells accompanied by depletion of spermatogenic cells, along with significant reductions in seminiferous tubular diameter and serum testosterone levels relative to control. While the percentage of apoptotic cells was significantly increased. Group V showed improvement in histological structure, the testosterone levels, and other morphometrical parameters. Pretreatment of lutein to deltamethrin-treated rats prevents the histopathological alterations by deltamethrin in testis.