Examination the effect of Jervin purified from the Veratrum album on changes in testicular tissue of varicocele-induced rats

Abstract In this study, it was aimed to investigate the effects of jervine, which was isolated from Veratrum album, on testicular tissue obtained from induced varicocele rats by using histological, immunohistochemical, biochemical and molecular techniques. In this experimental study, 40 male Sprague Dawley rats of 8-week-old with an average weight of 180–200 g were used. Rats were randomly divided into 6 groups; varicocele, healthy + jervine (10 mg/kg), varicocele + jervine (5 mg/kg) and varicocele + jervine (10 mg/kg), control, sham. After the left testes were dissected and excised, tissues were divided into three parts for histological, biochemical and Real-Time PCR examinations. It was observed that seminiferous tubules were normal in the control, sham and healthy + jervine (10 mg/kg) groups but it was found that seminiferous tubules were destroyed in the varicocele and varicocele + jervine groups. TNF-α immunoreactivity was stronger in the varicocele group than that of others. It was found that SOD activity was decreased and CAT activity was raised in varicocele group matched to the control group. TNF and p53 gene expression were downregulated due to the effects of jervine. In summary, we conclude that jervine promotes sperm morphology and contributes to preventing varicocele-induced damage by reducing TNF-α and p53 levels in experimental varicocele rats.