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Background and purpose: Imbalances in sex steroid hormone levels are strongly associated with diabetes and this may negatively impact upon sexual function. The aim of this study was to investigate the protective role of alcoholic extract of palm pollen (L.Phoenix dactylifera) on testosterone, LH and FSH levels in adult male diabetic rats. Material and Methods: In this experimental study, thirty adult male Wistar rats (250±23 gr) were selected and randomly divided into three groups (n=10): (i) control (ii) diabetic and (iii) treatment. Diabetes was induced by a single injection of streptozotocin (55 mg/kg, i.p). The treatment group received 0.2 mg/kg alcoholic extract of pollen of Phoenix dactylifera daily (gavages) for four weeks. At the end of experiments, the rats were anesthetized by injection of pentobarbital sodium (60 mg/kg i.p.) and sacrificed. Blood samples were taken from the left ventricle and testicular tissues were weighed and prepared for histological examination upon removal. Blood serum was separated and immediately assayed for LH, FSH and testosterone by ELISA method. The comparisons were carried out using oneway analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by post-hoc Tukey test (package of SPSS, version 19) Results: The findings revealed that the mean of testosterone level in the diabetic group declined significantly (P<0.05) and testicular and epididymis weight in diabetic group significantly reduced in comparison with the control group (P<0.05). In addition, in the diabetic group, disintegration of tubular cells, vacuolization of spermatogonia cells were seen in most of seminiferous tubules. Also, spermatozoa were rarely seen in seminiferous tubules in comparison with control group.The LH and FSH level did not show any significant difference between groups. However, in treatment group, the testosterone level significantly increased in comparison with the diabetic group (P<0.05). Histopathological findings of the treatment group were similar to control group. Conclusion: According to the results, it is suggested that the extract of pollen of Phoenix dactylifera may improve and protect testis structure diabetic rats and may have a regulatory effect on diabetes-induced change of the level of testosterone hormone in diabetic male rats.

Keywords: Palm pollen, spermatogenesis, FSH, LH, diabetes

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