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

Background: Varicocele is a dilatation of the pampiniform plexus. It is generally considered the most common cause of male infertility. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the effects of jervine on testicular tissue obtained from rats with induced varicocele. Methods: In this experimental study, 40 male Sprague Dawley rats were allocated randomly to 6 separate groups: varicocele, healthy + jervine (10 mg/kg), varicocele + jervine (5 mg/kg), varicocele + jervine (10 mg/kg), control and sham. After the left testes were dissected and excised, the tissue was divided into three parts for histological, biochemical and real-time PCR examinations. Results: We found a difference between the groups for the sperm anomaly rate. We also observed that seminiferous tubules were damaged in the varicocele and varicocele + jervine groups. TNF-? immunoreactivity was stronger in the varicocele group than in the others. We determined that superoxide dismutase activity was lower and catalase activity was higher in the varicocele group compared to the control group. Jervine can downregulat the p53 gene when used in healthy rats. Conclusion: These findings suggest that Jervine may promote sperm morphology and contribute to the prevention of varicocele-induced damage by decreasing TNF-? and p53 levels in experimental varicocele rats.