The protective effect of esculetin against aluminium chloride-induced reproductive toxicity in rats

One of the prominent health problems caused by Aluminium was the decrease in male fertility rates. In the study, the protective effect of Esculetin (ESC) against the reproductive toxicity induced by Aluminium chloride (AlCl₃ ) was investigated. For this purpose, AlCl₃ was administrated to Wistar Albino rats at a dose of 34 mg/kg and ESC was administrated at a dose of 50 mg/kg for 70 days. It was determined that AlCl₃ treatment reduced sperm motility and concentration, increased dead/live rate and abnormal sperm rate. It decreased serum testosterone level, and co-treatment of ESC significantly regulated these values. In the AlCl₃ -treated group, MDA level increased and GSH level, GPx and CAT activities decreased compared with those of the control group. However, co-treatment of ESC showed an amelioratory effect on the values except for CAT activity. It was observed that the expression level of NRF-2 increased in the ESC and AlCl₃  + ESC groups, and NF-κB increased in the AlCl₃ group with the control group. It was determined that Caspase-3 expression decreased, and Bcl-2 expression increased in AlCl₃  + ESC group compared to AlCl₃ group. It was also determined that AlCl₃ -induced tissue injury was significantly prevented by ESC co-treatment.