Effect of trans‐resveratrol on male testicular function in rats

The effect of the oral administration of 20 and 60 mg/kg of trans‐ resveratrol during 28 days on the testicular function of healthy adult Sprague‐Dawley rats has been studied. Body weight and food and water consumption did not differ between treatments. trans ‐Resveratrol administration increased the weight of the testes relative to body weight from 0.54 ± 0.01 in the control group to 0.57 ± 0.01 (p<0.05) and 0.59 ± 0.02 (p<0.05) at 20 and 60 mg/kg. The weight of the seminal vesicles normalized to body weight was 0.46 ± 0.01 in the controls and 0.52 ± 0.01 (p<0.05) in both resveratrol‐treated groups. No differences were observed in the relative epididymal or prostate weights. A dose‐dependent enhancement on epididymal spermatozoa was shown after the oral administration of trans ‐resveratrol. Sperm count increased by 23% (p<0.05) and 74% (p<0.001) in the 20 and 60 mg/kg groups with respect to the control animals, without influence on sperm quality. The serum concentrations of luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle‐stimulating hormone (FSH), and testosterone were measured. FSH and LH were not different between groups, whereas testosterone increased by 69% (p<0.05) at the higher dose with respect to the control group. In conclusion, the daily oral administration of trans‐ resveratrol exerts a dose‐dependent increase in the epidydimal sperm count with no adverse effects. Supported by grant AGL2009‐12866 from MCT Spain.