Biology and Medicine

Abstract

Histological studies of the toxicity of artesunate on the testes in Wistar rats

AM Izunya, AO Nwaopara, AE Aigbiremolen, MAC Odike, GA Oaikhena and JK Bankole

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of oral administration of artesunate on the histology of the testis in wistar rats. Adult male wistar rats used in the study were divided into 3 groups: Group A received 4mg/kg b.w of artesunate daily for 3 days followed by 2mg/kg b.w daily for next for 4 days; group B received 8mg/kg/kg b.w of artesunate daily for 3 days followed by 4mg/kg b.w daily for next 4 days and group C were given only distilled water and served as control. The rats were fed with grower\'s mash purchased from Edo feeds and Flour Mill Ltd, Ewu, Edo state and were given water ad libitum. On day eight of the experiment, the rats were weighed and sacrificed by cervical dislocation. The testes were carefully dissected out and quickly fixed in 10% formal saline for routine histological study after H&E method. The histological findings indicated that the treated sections of the testes showed mild sloughing of germ cells from the basement membrane and varying degrees of reduced population of germ cells. These findings suggest that artesunate at normal dose has a deleterious effect on the histology of the testis and could be a potential male antiferftility agent. It is therefore recommended that further studies aimed at corroborating these observations be carried out.