Fig. 2

Effects of RLN on testicular damage, and germ cell apoptosis in CP-treated rats. a HE staining and TUNEL analysis of rat testis tissue specimens. CP disrupted seminiferous germ cells in the testis in contrast to RLN administration or controls, which both displayed normal testicular tissue structure. Apoptosis was observed mainly in spermatogonia and spermatocytes. ST, seminiferous tubules. Bar = 100 μm; all panels are the same magnification. b Johnsen’s testicular spermatogenic score. The Johnsen score showed a significantly lower value following CP treatment, but significantly elevated after RLN administration. c Histological damage scores by Cosentino et al. [39]. CP group showed degenerative changes, including degeneration of the germ cell layer, disarray of germ cell layers, loss of spermatozoa/spermatids, arrested germ cells in different stages of division, and necrotic germ cells. These indications of damages were significantly improved following RLN administration. d Percentages of seminiferous tubules expressing greater than three TUNEL-positive cells (Apoptotic index, %). e qPCR analysis of apoptosis-related gene expression. Casp3 levels were upregulated, and Bcl2 levels were downregulated following CP treatment as compared with controls, whereas RLN administration significantly decreased and increased Casp3 and Bcl2 expression, respectively. Rxfp1 levels were downregulated following CP treatment but significantly upregulated after RLN administration, whereas Il6 expression was unchanged among the three groups. Values represent the means ± S.E.M.; values with different letters are significantly differences (P < 0.05)