Protective role of curcumin in cadmium-induced physiological and reproductive toxicity in male BALB/c mice

Abstract

Cadmium is one of the main worries these days due to its various harmful health effects, including adverse reproductive health concerns on humans. To overcome the side effects of synthetic drugs, we aimed to evaluate curcumin’s preventive role against cadmium-induced toxicity using an in vivo animal model. Treatment groups included control, cadmium chloride (6 mg/kg b.w.), curcumin (20 mg/kg b.w.), and cadmium chloride + curcumin (6 mg/kg and 20 mg/kg b.w., respectively), and the dosage was continued for 21 days. Our result demonstrated that curcumin ameliorates organs’ weight and sperm morphologies and improves the viability and fertility of sperm. Curcumin treatment led to a significant increase in catalase and SOD levels in the testis, liver, and kidney. Testosterone levels also got elevated; however, levels of Estradiol-17β decreased on treatment with curcumin. Moreover, the treatment restored vital genes such as Cyp19A1 and 3β-HSD, which were downregulated due to cadmium toxicity. Histological alterations due to cadmium toxicity in the testis, epididymis, and liver were restored with curcumin treatment. Results of H/E staining of the testis exhibited that the vacuolization of germinal epithelium due to cadmium toxicity improved due to curcumin treatment. Also, the concentration of the spermatogonia and spermatids appeared normal, and the seminiferous epithelium became well-organized. Histology of the liver showed that hepatocytes recovered in contrast to the cadmium-treated animals, and no infiltration of inflammatory cells was observed. However, future research needs to be envisioned to improve the oral bioavailability of curcumin, as it could act as a prospective candidate for the treatment of cadmium toxicity.