Role of Nigella Sativa oil in alleviating increased reproductive hormones and some inflammatory mediators caused by cadmium toxicity in rat testes

Background: Environmental pollution with heavy metals represents global problem. One of these heavy metals is the cadmium chloride that emits from many industries such as cement plants and it also comes from smoke, batteries and others. Exposure to cadmium affects most of the body’s organs. Testes seem to be greatly affected by cadmium since it has a unique vascular system. Objective: Therefore the present study aimed to evaluate the protective effect of Nigella Sativa oil against cadmium-induced testicular toxicity in rats. Design: Thirty male adult albino rats were used in this study. They were equally divided into three groups; group I “control group”, group II “cadmium treated group” and group III “cadmium and Nigella Sativa oil treated group”. Results: Administration of cadmium chloride (5 mg/kg body weight for four successive weeks) in rats resulted in significantly increased serum levels of testosterone, LH and FSH. It also led to significant increase in the testicular tissue homogenate contents of TNF-? and IL-1?. Administration of Nigella Sativa oil (2 ml/kg body weight) with cadmium chloride (5 mg/kg body weight) for four successive weeks in rats succeeded in ameliorating these cadmium induced changes. Conclusion: It can be concluded that cadmium chloride testicular toxicity in rats led to disturbance of serum levels of male reproductive hormones and increased testicular contents of inflammatory markers. The use of Nigella Sativa oil succeeded in ameliorating these changes.