impact of saponin on cyclophosphamide -induced testicular damage

Introduction: cyclophosphamide (cp) is the most common chemotherapy drug that has toxic effects on the male reproductive system. this experimental study aimed to assess the protective impact of saponin (sp) on the testicular damage induced via cp. methods: twenty-four male mice were separated randomly into 4 groups (n=6): 1. control group, 2. cp, 3. sp and 4. cp + sp. cp (15mg/kg/weekly) and sp (2.5 mg/kg/daily) were intraperitoneally injected for 35 consecutive days. at the end of the study, the testicles were removed for the histological and biochemical (mda, sod, and gpx) evaluation.results: cp induced degenerative changes in testicular tissues and sp treatment reduced these alterations. the results indicated that cp increased mda levels and reduced sod, gpx, and testosterone levels (p<0.05) in contrast to the control group. in the cp+sp group, a significant reduction (p<0.01) in mda levels and the elevation of sod, gpx, and testosterone levels were observed. conclusion: it seems saponin may reduce cp-induced reproductive toxicity in male mice.