Study of damages induced by fungicide propiconazole on testicular tissue and process of spermatogenesis and protective effects of selenium in male Sprague Dawley rat

Propiconazole is an herbal fungicide which is used as a tropical and systematic drug for fungal infection and also as an agricultural chemical for protection and preservation of fruits, vegetables and grains. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of fungicides propiconazol and possible protective effects of selenium on testes tissue. The present expremental trail study was conducted on forty rats which were divided into ten groups of four including control, sham (solvent of propiconazole, distilled water), solvent of selenium (normal saline) and seven experimental groups: group 1 received 0.5 mg/kg/day of selenium, groups 2,3,4 received three doses of 10,50,75 mg/kg/day of Propiconazole, and groups 5,6,7 received three doses of 10, 50, 75 mg/kg/day of propiconazole with 0.5 mg/kg/day of selenium toevaluate. The administration was done intrapritoneal for two weeks in an alternatively fashion. After determining the level of LH, FSH, Testosterone, sperm was counted by hemocitometer. Data were analyzed by the SPSS software using ANOVA test. No significant differences was observed in the level of hormones in the experimental groups2-7 compared with the control group, but the number of sertoli cells, spermatogonia, primary spermatocyte, spermatid and sperm decreased significantly in comparison with the control group (p<0.05). The decrease in numbers of counted sperm indicates that propiconazole has disrupted the production process of these cells and selenium was unable to improve that.