Altered Expression of DAAM1 and PREP Induced by Cadmium Toxicity is Counteracted by Melatonin in the Rat Testis.

Cadmium (Cd) is one of the most toxic pollutants for health due to its accumulation in several tissues including testis. This report confirms that Cd increased oxidative stress and apoptosis of germ and somatic cells, provoked testicular injury, as documented by biomolecular and histo-logical alterations, i.e., CAT and SOD activity, the protein level of steroidogenic enzymes (StAR and 3β-HSD), and morphometric parameters. Additionally, it further documents the melatonin (MLT) coadministration effects in mitigating Cd-induced toxicity on adult rat testis, as demon-strated by the reduction of oxidative stress and apoptosis, with reversal of the observed histolog-ical changes; moreover, a role of MLT in partially restoring steroidogenic enzymes expression was evidenced. Importantly, the cytoarchitecture of testicular cells was perturbed by Cd exposure, as highlighted by impairment of the expression and localization of two cytoskeleton-associated proteins DAAM1 and PREP, involved in the germ cells differentiation into spermatozoa, altering the normal spermatogenesis. Here, for the first time, we found that the co-treatment with MLT at-tenuated the Cd-induced toxicity on the testicular DAAM1 and PREP expression. The combined findings provide additional clues about a protective effect of MLT against Cd-induced testicular toxicity, acting on DAAM1 and PREP expression, encouraging further studies to prove its effec-tiveness in human health.