en Detrimental Effect of Atrazine on Testicular Tissue and Sperm Quality: Implication for Oxidative Stress and Hormonal Alterations عمومى General پژوهشي Research <span style="font-weight: bold">Background:</span> Atrazine (ATR) is used as an agriculture herbicide worldwide. It has been shown that ATR adversely affect the reproductive system in rodents. In this study we aimed to evaluate the impact of chronic exposure to Atrazine (ATR) on male testicular tissue, sperm parameters, serum level of total thiol molecules (TTM) and malodialdehyde (MDA) content of testes. <br><span style="font-weight: bold">Methods: </span>To follow-up this study, 72 adult and mature male rats were divided into test and control-sham groups. The animals in test group received the compound at dose levels of 100, 200 and 300 mg/kg, b.w., orally representing the low, medium and high doses of ATR respectively for 12, 24, 48 days. Control-sham group received the corn oil (0.2 ml/day) in the same manner as test groups. <br><span style="font-weight: bold">Results:</span> Light microscopic analyses revealed increased thickness of tunica albuginea, atrophied seminiferous tubules, arrested spermatogenesis, decreased leydig cells/ mm2 of interstitial tissue (2.0±0.7/mm2 in high dose received rats), vasodilatation and thrombosis. Sperm parameters assays showed that the sperm count (26.50±2.16×106 vs control 70.25±1.25), viability (21.26±2.58% vs control 90.75±6.23) and motility (12.00±1.58% vs control 90.41±2.12) decreased in ATR-exposed animals in a dose-dependent fashion. Biochemical analyses for TTM and MDA demonstrated that in ATR-exposed animals the serum level of TTM (0.100±0.005 Mol/ml vs control 0.321± 0.002) decreased significantly (P<0.05) and by contrast the testicular MDA level (4.053±2.28 nMol/mg vs control 1.75±0.34) elevated in testicular tissues. <br><span style="font-weight: bold">Conclusion:</span> the current data provide inclusive histological feature of chronic exposure against ATR in testicular tissue. Moreover, other reproductive-related disorders including abnormalities in spermatogenesis, sperm viability, volume and motility, may attribute to the ATR-induced oxidative stress, which reflected by remarkable alteration in TTM and MDA levels. Atrazine, Hormonal Alterations, Oxidative Stress, Spermatogenesis, Sperm Parameters Atrazine, Hormonal Alterations, Oxidative Stress, Spermatogenesis, Sperm Parameters 426 435 http://ijt.arakmu.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-2-12&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Sajad Feyzi Dehkhargani سجاد فیضی 10031947532846003215 10031947532846003215 No Department of Comparative Histology & Embryology Department of Comparative Histology & Embryology Hassan Malekinejad حسن ملکی نژاد hassanmalekinejad@yahoo.com 10031947532846003216 10031947532846003216 Yes Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Urmia University, Urmia, Iran Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Urmia University, Urmia, Iran Rasool Shahrooz رسول شهروز 10031947532846003217 10031947532846003217 No Department of Comparative Histology & Embryology Department of Comparative Histology & Embryology Rajab Ali Sarkhanloo رجب علی سرخانلو 10031947532846003218 10031947532846003218 No Department of Comparative Histology & Embryology Department of Comparative Histology & Embryology