Egyptian date palm pollen ameliorates testicular dysfunction induced by cadmium chloride in adult male rats

Pollen of the date palm (DPP) has been used for long time as a traditional Egyptian herbal medicine for improving male and female fertility. The purpose of this study was to investigate the protective effect and the possible mechanisms of DPP against cadmium-induced testicular dysfunction in adult male rats. Testicular dysfunction was induced by an oral administration of cadmium chloride (CdCl2, 5mg/kg body wt, every other day for 30 days). Oral administration of DPP (240mg/kg body wt, daily for 30 days) dramatically increased estradiol level of normal rats. Co administration of DPP with CdCl2 significantly restored the reduction in sex organs weight and the decline in sperm counts and their motility as well as the decrease in testosterone level induced by CdCl2 challenge. Treatment with DPP counteracted the increases in antioxidant systems in rat testis as assessed by restoration of reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT). Co administration of DPP with CdCl2 inhibited the abnormalities in testicular morphology, but partially attenuated the elevation in the percentage of testicular DNA damage induced by CdCl2. This study provides evidence that DPP exert a significant protective effect against testicular dysfunction induced by CdCl2 through increases in estradiol level as well as normalization of testosterone levels and sperm parameters. This report also shows some evidence that DPP protects rat's testicular tissue via suppressing testicular histological abnormalities and modulating its DNA damage.