Effects of Tahitian Noni dietary supplement on caffeine-induced testicular histo-pathological alterations in adult Sprague-Dawley rats

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the possible ameliorating effect of Tahitian Noni dietary supplement on caffeine-induced testicular histopathological alterations in Sprague-Dawley rats. Design: This is an experimental animal study. Methods: Thirty adult male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats, weighing between 105 and 200g were acclimatized and grouped into six of five rats per group. Group 1 was the control. Group 2 received 200mg/kg of caffeine for 8weeks, Group 3 received 200mg/kg of caffeine for 4weeks and 5ml/kg of Noni for another 4weeks, Group 4 received both 200mg/kg of caffeine and 5ml/kg of Noni for 8weeks, Group 5 received 5ml/kg of Noni for 8weeks, Group 6 received 5ml/kg of Noni for 4weeks and 200mg/kg of caffeine for another 4weeks. Results: Tahitian Noni caused a statistically significant increase in the mean body weight of the SD rats, opposed to the groups treated with caffeine. There was also a statistically significant increase in the testicular weight, sperm count and motility in the SD rats treated with Noni compared to those treated with caffeine. Caffeine negatively affected the histo-architecture of the seminiferous tubules with massive loss of spermatogenic cells while the groups exposed to Noni tended towards normal when compared with the control. Conclusions: Administration of Tahitian Noni dietary supplement ameliorates the testicular toxicities caused by a high dose of caffeine.

Keywords

• Noni
• Caffeine
• Coffee
• Testis
• Free radical