Potential Alleviation of Chlorella vulgaris and Zingiber officinale on Lead-Induced Testicular Toxicity: an Ultrastructural Study

Natural products were studied to combat reproductive alterations of lead. The current work<br>aimed to disclose the efficacy of Chlorella vulgaris and Zingiber officinale to alleviate lead<br>acetate induced toxicity. Sixty adult male Wistar rats were distributed into four groups.<br>Group 1 was considered control, group 2 received 200 mg/l PbAc water, group 3 received 50<br>mg/kg/rat of C. vulgaris extract and 200 mg/l PbAc water, and group 4 received 100<br>mg/kg/rat of Z. officinale and 200 mg/l PbAc water for 90 days. Testis samples were subjected<br>to ultrastructural examination. It was observed that PbAc caused degenerative alterations in<br>the spermatogenic series in many tubules, with a loss of germ cells and vacuoles inside the<br>cytoplasm and between the germ cells. Mitochondria exhibited ballooning, with lost cristae<br>and widening of the interstitial tissue, while nuclear envelopes of primary spermatocytes<br>were broken up, and axonemes of the mid-pieces of the sperms were distorted. With the<br>treatment with C. vulgaris or Z. officinale, there were noticeable improvements in these<br>modifications. It was concluded that both C. vulgaris and Z. officinale represent convincing<br>medicinal components that may be used to ameliorate testicular toxicity in those exposed to<br>lead in daily life with superior potentials revealed by C. vulgaris due to its chelating action.<br>Key words: Chlorella vulgaris, lead acetate, ultrastructure, Zingiber officinale.