| Summary: | More than 90% of diabetic patients suffer from sexual dysfunction, including diminished sperm count, sperm motility, and sperm viability, and low testosterone levels. The effects of <i>Momordica charantia</i> (MC) were studied by estimating the blood levels of insulin, glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), testosterone (TST), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and luteinizing hormone (LH) in diabetic rats treated with 250 and 500 mg/kg b.w. of the total extract. Testicular antioxidants, epididymal sperm characteristics, testicular histopathology, and lesion scoring were also investigated. Testicular mRNA expression of apoptosis-related markers such as antiapoptotic B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) and proapoptotic Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax) were evaluated by real-time PCR. Furthermore, caspase-3 protein expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry. MC administration resulted in a significant reduction in blood glucose and HbA1c and marked elevation of serum levels of insulin, TST, and gonadotropins in diabetic rats. It induced a significant recovery of testicular antioxidant enzymes, improved histopathological changes of the testes, and decreased spermatogenic and Sertoli cell apoptosis. MC effectively inhibited testicular apoptosis, as evidenced by upregulation of Bcl-2 and downregulation of Bax and caspase-3. Moreover, reduction in apoptotic potential in MC-treated groups was confirmed by reduction in the Bax/Bcl-2 mRNA expression ratio.
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