Microscopy and morphometry of tubular components of rabbit testis supplemented with royal jelly

This study aimed to investigate the effects of royal jelly on spermatogenesis in rabbits treated with different concentrations of RJ (Control; 0,5mg/day; and 1,0mg/day) using testicular morphometry. There was no significant difference between the body weight (T1=3.20 +/- 0.19kg; T2=2.96 +/- 0.30kg; T3=3.21 +/- 0.37kg) and gonadal weight (T1=2.36 +/- 0.33g; T2=2.53 +/- 0.33g; T3=2.64 +/- 0.39g), gonadossomatic index (T1=0.15 +/- 0.02%; T2=0.17 +/- 0.03%. T3=0.16 +/- 0.02%) and tubulossomatic index (T1=0.06 +/- 0.01%; T2=0.07 +/- 0.01%. T3=0.06 +/- 0.01%) between treatments, showing that the percentage of body mass, and the percentage of seminiferous tubules allocated in testis were similar in the 3 experimental groups. Similarly, the mean diameter of the seminiferous tubules (T1=225.95 +/- 13.27 mu m; T2=239.68 +/- 21.50 mu m; T3=231.57 +/- 15,94 mu m), the height of the seminiferous epithelium (T1=66,05 +/- 5,37 mu m; T2=73.47 +/- 9.11 mu m; T3=63.34 +/- 4.79 mu m) and length of seminiferous tubule for testis (T1=46.63 +/- 13.44m; T2=43.58 +/- 12.17m; T3=46.96 +/- 9.54m) and per gram of testis (T1=19.50 +/- 2.68m; T2=17.12 +/- 3.91m; T3=17.78 +/- 1.98m) did not differ statistically. It was concluded that supplementation with royal jelly, at the doses used, did not alter the testicular parameters evaluated here.