The ameliorative effect of curcumin on cryptorchid and non-cryptorchid testes in induced unilateral cryptorchidism in albino rat: histological evaluation.

BACKGROUND: Cryptorchidism, one or both hidden testes, is the most common abnormality of male sexual development. Subfertility or infertility is associated with both unilateral and bilateral cryptorchidism. In this study, we investigate the possible ameliorative effect of curcumin (Cur) on the induced-unilateral cryptorchidism testicular injury in both cryptorchid (Cryp) and non-cryptorchid (non-Cryp) scrotal testes through histological, immunohistochemical and morphometrics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty adult male albino rats were divided into: control group, Cur control group, Cryp group, and Cryp+Cur group. The rat model was surgically established by fixing the left testis in the abdomen. The treated groups were subjected to surgically induced-unilateral cryptorchidism on the left side then were given Cur (80 mg/kg) orally, for 20 days. Histological analysis using haematoxylin and eosin and periodic acid Schiff's reaction was done. Immunohistochemistry was performed for proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA); to estimate the proliferation in the germinal epithelium, and vimentin; to evaluate Sertoli cells. The results were confirmed by statistical evaluation of the spermatogenic epithelium height, the seminiferous tubules diameter, the basement membrane thickness, the number of PCNA immunostained cells and the area per cent of vimentin immunostaining. RESULTS: Distorted seminiferous tubules, substantial degeneration of the germinal epithelium, thickening of the basement membrane with a significant decrease in PCNA and vimentin immunostaining were observed in Cryp group; mainly in the cryptorchid testis. These structural changes were significantly reversed in Crypt+Cur group. CONCLUSIONS: Curcumin proved to be an important and effective medical line for protecting against the unfavourable sequels of cryptorchidism in a rat model.

Genetic variability of myostatin and prolactin genes in popular goat breeds in Egypt.

The genetic polymorphisms of two functional genes named: myostatin (MSTN) and prolactin (PRL) were investigated in three goat breeds (Barki, Damascus and Zaraibi) using Sanger nucleotide sequence and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) methods, in order to differentiate between these breeds. Nucleotide sequencing of 337 bp MSTN gene detected five SNPs in Barki breed, two SNPs in Damascus breed, while the Zaraibi breed did not show any SNPs. Moreover, MSTN-HaeIII/PCR-RFLP gave a single Genotype BB was found in all the studied breeds. Meanwhile, Nucleotide sequencing of 196 bp PRL gene showed two SNPs in Damascus breed, one SNPs in Zaraibi breed, while the Barki breed did not show any SNPs. Moreover, PRL-Eco24I/PCR-RFLP showed three genotypes (AA, AB and BB). The genotype AB showed the maximum frequency in all the studied breeds (0.75, 0.85, and 0.90 for Damascus, Barki and Zaraibi breeds, respectively). Observed heterozygosity (Ho) value was higher than expected heterozygosity (He) value all studied breeds. In addition, the values of both Ho and He were the highest in Zaraibi breed (0.90 and 0.51 respectively). Chi-square (χ2) value revealed a significant variation Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (P < .05) in the three studied breeds. It is the highest in Zaraibi goats and lowest in Damascus breed. The results demonstrated that the PRL-Eco24I/PCR-RFLP polymorphism may be utilized as effective marker for genetic differentiation between goat breeds, but MSTN-HaeIII/PCR-RFLP revealed no polymorphism or variation, thus it is not recommended in the selection program. Moreover, these results open up interesting prospects for future selection programs, especially marker assisted selection. In addition, the results established that PCR-RFLP method is a suitable tool for calculating genetic variability.