Effect of thymoquinone on glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) expression in the testis of rats fed a high-fat diet with cholesterol

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Forty male 40-days-old Sprague Dawley rats were utilized in this investigation. Control, Thymoquinone, sham, high-fat diet with cholesterol (CHFD) and high-fat diet with cholesterol + thymoquinone (CHFD+T) were the five randomly assigned groups, each consisting of eight rats. Rats in the control, thymoquinone, and sham groups received standard pellet chow for eight weeks, whereas rats in the CHFD and CHFD+T groups were fed mixed pellets that included 65% butter and 2% cholesterol of the daily calorie intake. For 14 days, rats in the CHFD+T and thymoquinone groups received intraperitoneal thymoquinone at a dose of 8 mg/kg following the conclusion of CHFD consumption. Tissues were collected from all rats that were euthanized under deep anesthesia by cervical dislocation. Histology, immunohistochemistry localization of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), and western blotting analyses were performed on testicular tissue samples. Blood samples were taken for analyses of serum lipids. Feeding a high-fat diet with cholesterol led to an increase in body weight, serum levels of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), triglycerides and leptin and seminiferous tubule diameters. After treatment with thymoquinone body weight decreased, biochemical values returned to normal levels. Furthermore, thymoquinone's ability to decrease glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) expression in testicular tissue in rats fed a high-fat diet implies that thymoquinone, cholesterol, and a high-fat diet all restrict the release of this growth factor.