Şişman, Ali Rıza

Background. It is well known that diabetes mellitus may cause testicular damage. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and nerve growth factor beta (NGF-β) are important neurotrophic factors for male reproductive system.Objective. We aimed to investigate the correlation between testicular damage and testicular VEGF and NGF-βlevels in diabetic rats.Methods. Diabetes was induced by streptozotocin (STZ, 45 mg/kg/i.p.) in adult rats. Five weeks later testicular tissue was removed; testicular VEGF and NGF-βlevels were measured by ELISA. Testicular damage was detected by using hematoxylin and eosin staining and periodic acid-Schiff staining, and apoptosis was identified by terminal-deoxynucleotidyl-transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL). Seminiferous tubular sperm formation was evaluated using Johnsen’s score.Results. In diabetic rats, seminiferous tubule diameter was found to be decreased; basement membrane was found to be thickened in seminiferous tubules and degenerated germ cells. Additionally, TUNEL-positive cells were increased in number of VEGF+ cells and levels of VEGF and NGF-βwere decreased in diabetic testes. Correlation between VEGF and NGF-βlevels was strong.Conclusion. These results suggest that the decrease of VEGF and NGF-βlevels is associated with the increase of the apoptosis and testicular damage in diabetic rats. Testis VEGF and NGF-βlevels could be potential novel biomarkers for diabetes induced testicular damage.