摘要：AbstractThe issue of male sexual dysfunction arises due to numerous complications linked with sperm motility, imbalance of antioxidant enzymes and hormonal levels. Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) is widely used as a standard toxin to induce chemical injury and toxicity. A lot of research has been performed on many species of the genus Nepetain vitroandin vivobut the plantNepeta paulseniihave been rarely used in this aspect. The current research was designed to explore the impacts of methanolic extract of theNepeta paulseniiplant on CCl4induced testicular impairment in male albino rats. Forty-eight rats were distributed equally into 8 groups; Control, Vehicle control, CCl4treated (1 ml/kg), CCl4 + Silymarine treated, CCl4 + Nepeta paulsenii(200 mg/kg) treated, CCl4 + Nepeta paulsenii(400 mg/kg),Nepeta paulsenii(200 mg/kg) andNepeta paulsenii(400 mg/kg) treated. Blood and testicles were obtained and analyzed. To check antioxidant enzymes, hormonal concentrations, daily sperm production (DSP), protein content and histopathology various analyses were performed. CCl4exposure resulted in adverse morphological changes and significant (p < 0.05) reduction in testosterone, luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) concentrations, the activity of catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione-disulfide reductase (GSR) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) enzymes, daily sperm production (DSP), protein content and high-density lipoproteins (HDL). CCl4increased the TBARS and H2O2production along with the cholesterol, triglyceride and low-density lipoproteins (LDL) levels, butNepeta paulseniirestored these changes back to their normal state significantly (p < 0.05). Therefore, it was concluded thatNepeta paulseniiextract has potential to ameliorate the CCl4induced testicular damage.
