Oxido-inflammatory stress has been involved in lead-induced testicular dysfunction and plants rich in
anti-oxidants has been reported to be beneficial in combating
heavy metal poisonings in animal studies. However, cabbage juice protective effect on lead-induced testicular dysfunction was investigated in this study. Twenty male Wistar rats were selected into four (n = 5) groups and given distilled water (1 ml/100 g
body weight),
lead acetate (25 mg/kg
body weight), cabbage juice (1 ml/100 g
body weight), and
lead acetate with cabbage juice, respectively. All treatments were administered orally for 28 days. Sperm count, motility, viability,
testosterone, luteinising
hormone and
follicle-stimulating hormone, testicular Bcl-2 expression, and enzymatic
anti-oxidant capabilities were considerably (p < 0.05) decrease in lead-treated animals. However, cabbage juice significantly (p < 0.05) elevated these parameters. Testicular
malondialdehyde, tumour
necrosis factor-α,
nitric oxide and
interleukin-6 was elevated by
lead acetate. When comparing cabbage juice-treated animals to lead-treated animals, all of these parameters were considerably (p < 0.05) downregulated in cabbage juice-treated animals. Following lead administration, the testes' histomorphological alterations were not totally recovered despite
therapy with cabbage juice. Conclusively, this study suggest that cabbage juice mitigates testicular dysfunction associated with lead exposure via its
anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic and androgenic properties.