Salau_2021_Reprod.Toxicol__

Testicular dysfunctions leading to male infertility has been reported in type 2 diabetes (T2D), with glucose dysmetabolism, cholinergic and purinergic dysfunction being major contributors. In the present study, the effect of vanillin on glucose metabolism, purinergic and cholinergic dysfunctions were investigated in testicular tissues of T2D rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 6 groups containing 5 rats each. T2D was induced in rats by administering 10% fructose ad libitum for 14 days and injecting intraperitoneally with 40 mg/kg streptozotocin thereafter. T2D rats were orally administered vanillin at 150 and 300 mg/kg bodyweight (bw). Diabetic control (DC) consisted of untreated diabetic rats, while normal control (NC) consisted of normal rats and they were administered distilled water only. Metformin was used as the standard antidiabetic drug. After 5 weeks treatment, the rats were sacrificed, and the testes harvested. Induction of T2D led to significant depleted testicular levels of glutathione, glycogen content, superoxide dismutase and catalase activities, with concomitant elevated levels of nitric oxide, malondialdehyde, acetylcholinesterase, glucose-6-phosphatase, fructose-1,6-biphophastase, glycogen phosphorylase, amylase and lipase activities. These activities and levels were significantly reversed to near normal in rats treated with both doses of vanillin and compared favorably with metformin. These results when taken together, suggest the therapeutic effect of vanillin against hyperglycemia-mediated metabolic dysfunctions in testes of T2D rats. This is depicted by the ability of the phenolic to attenuate oxidative imbalance, purinergic and cholinergic dysfunctions, while suppressing glucose dysmetabolism.