This investigation has been designed to evaluate the antibilharzial efficiency and the possible ameliorative role of curcumin on adult male Swiss albino mice testes. Thirty animals were used in this experiment, divided equally into 3 groups control, infected with S. mansoni and infected then treated with curcumin. Histological examination was performed on the testes using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Results indicated that the testes in the infected group showed thickening and irregularity in the surrounding basal lamina, cytoplasmic vacuolation of atrophied Sertoli cells, shrinkage and pyknotic nuclei of spermatogonia as well as primary spermatocytes, especially in front of the sex vesicles. Furthermore, Sertoli cells contained various forms of mitochondrial degeneration and wide intercellular spaces of adherent junction among the Sertoli as well as spermatogenic cells. Besides, most of sperms were markedly affected. Supplementation of curcumin minimized the degenerative changes in the nuclear envelope and sex vesicles of the primary spermatocyte nuclei besides narrowing the adherent junction among Sertoli cells and germ cells. In conclusion, curcumin proved to have a potential role in minimizing the deleterious effect of S. mansoni in testes of the infected mice.
Key words: Schistosoma mansoni, Swiss albino mice, testes, curcumin, ultrastructure
|
