Abstract
The present study was designed to investigate the effects of zinc and/or melatonin deficiency on rat testes. A total of 24 adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were used in this study. The rats were divided into four groups of six rats each, as follows: (I) controls, (II) zinc deficient, (III) pinealectomized, zinc normal, and (IV) pinealectomized, zinc deficient. The plasma zinc levels in the control group were higher than in all the other groups (p<0.01), and those of the zinc-deficient groups II and IV were significantly lower than for group III (p<0.01). The melatonin levels in the controls were also significantly higher than for all other groups (p<0.01) There was no significant difference in sperm production between the controls and the group of animals that had no epiphysis. A significant suppression was observed in the spermatogenetic activity of the zinc-deficient groups (p<0.01). The suppression was higher in group II than in group IV. These results indicate that testicular damage caused by zinc deficiency may be reduced by melatonin deficiency.
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Oztürk, A., Baltaci, A.K., Bediz, C.S. et al. Effects of zinc and melatonin deficiency on testicular tissue of rats. Biol Trace Elem Res 96, 255–262 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1385/BTER:96:1-3:255
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1385/BTER:96:1-3:255