Alleviating effects of melatonin on oxidative changes in the testes and pituitary glands evoked by subacute chlorpyrifos administration in Wistar rats.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the alleviating effects of melatonin on oxidative changes in the testes and pituitary gland induced by subacute chlopyrifos (CPF) exposure in rats.

METHODS

Forty adult male Wistar rats divided into 4 groups of 10 animals were used for the study. Group I received soya oil (2 mL/kg) while group II was administered with melatonin (0.5 mg/kg). Group III was administered CPF only (8.5 mg/kg ∼ 1/10th of the LD50) while group IV was pretreated with melatonin (0.5 mg/kg) and then exposed to CPF (8.5 mg/kg), 10 min later. The regimens were administered by gavage once daily for a period of 28 d. At the end of the exposure period, the rats were sacrificed and the testicular tissues and pituitary glands were evaluated for the malonaldehyde (MDA) concentration and activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT).

RESULTS

CPF increased MDA concentrations and reduced the activities of SOD and CAT in the testes and pituitary gland. Melatonin pretreatment reduced the testicular and pituitary MDA concentrations and improves the SOD and CAT activities.

CONCLUSIONS

the study showed that subacute CPF-induced oxidative stress in the testes and pituitary glands were alleviated by melatonin due to its antioxidant property.