The Effect of Carvacrol on the Expression of P53 Protein in Testicular Tissue and Spermatogenesis of Rats Treated with Methamphetamine

Abstract

The application of traditional and industrial addictive drugs is expanding in the developed societies. Carvacrol is widely used in traditional medicine, and methamphetamine, directly and indirectly, affects all organs. According to the mechanism of methamphetamine, the therapeutic effects of antioxidants were recently considered in order to reduce methamphetamine abuse outcomes. The current study aimed at evaluating the anti-apoptotic effect of carvacrol on spermatogenesis of rats treated with methamphetamine. Thus, 32 adult male rats were randomly divided into four groups: positive control, negative control, sham, and experimental. Spermatogenic cells and testis tissue were evaluated using hematoxylin and eosin staining technique and the expression of P53 was assessed by Western blotting as a factor to induced apoptosis. The current study data showed that methamphetamine significantly reduced spermatogenic cells in the positive control group, while carvacrol increased these cells in the experimental group. Also, carvacrol decreased P53 expression in the experimental group compared with the positive control group (P < 0.05). Therefore, carvacrol had an anti-apoptotic effect by suppressing P53 protein expression. Altogether, carvacrol can reduce some of the common symptoms related to methamphetamine abuse including infertility and induction of apoptosis.