Objective: Doxorubicin (DOX) treatment has been reported to increase the risk of serious toxicity in testis, therefore the aim of the present study was to investigate the antioxidant effects of training and Crocin on doxorubicin-induced testicular toxicity in rats. Materials and methods: In this experimental study, 42 Wistar rats were randomized into seven groups of six rats, including 1) Control, 2) DOX, 3) DOX + 10 mg/kg/d (day) Crocin, 4) DOX + 50 mg/kg/d Crocin, 5) DOX + high intensity interval training (HIIT), 6) DOX + HIIT with 10 mg/kg/d Crocin and 7) DOX + HIIT with 50 mg/kg/d Crocin. During eight weeks, rats in groups 3, 4, 6, and 7 administered Crocin daily at specific doses by gavage, and groups 5 to 7 performed HIIT(2-8rep2min at 80-110% Vmax) 5 day/w. Also, groups 2 to 7 administered 2 mg/kg/w DOX intraperitoneal. The testes were removed and glutathione peroxidase (GPX), total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and protein carbonyl (PC) were analyzed using ELISA methods, oneway analysis of variance along with Bonferroni’s post hoc test were used for analysis in SPSS (P≤0.05). Results: The results of the present study showed that doxorubicin induced oxidative stress in testicular tissue by decreasing the level of GPX and TAC and increasing PC level (P≤0.05); TAC and GPX improved in all groups except groups 2 and 5, respectively, and their increase in the group 7 was significantly higher compared to other groups (P≤0.05). Increased PC levels were significantly reduced in the groups 5, 6 and 7. Conclusion: The increase in antioxidant levels in the concurrent Crocin and training group seems to be dosedependent, but the oxidative stress in both Crocin and training groups of 10 and 50 mg/kg/d is associated with a decrease, but its modulation in the Crocin consumption group alone depends on the dose.

Background: Many men in the world are infertile at reproductive age. One of the causes of male infertility is the side effects of chemotherapy drugs. Doxorubicin (DOX) is a tetracycline used in chemotherapy that has been shown to have adverse effects on testicular tissue. Objectives: The simultaneous effect of high-intensity aerobic exercise and crocin (Cr) consumption on doxorubicin-induced testicular tissue has not been studied. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the interaction between exercise and Cr consumption on spermatogenesis and expression of lutein hormone receptor (LHR) in testicular tissue of rats injected with doxorubicin. Methods: Thirty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups (n = 6), including (1) healthy control, (2) doxorubicin, (3) doxorubicin + 10 mg/kg body weight (kg.bw) Cr, (4) doxorubicin + high intensity interval training (HIIT) and (5) doxorubicin + aerobic training with 10 mg/kg.bw Cr. Rats in groups 3 and 5 received Cr daily at specific doses orally, and groups 4 and 5 performed aerobic training (2 - 8 rep × 2 min at 80 - 110% Vo2max) five days/w. Also, groups 2 to 5 received two mg/kg of doxorubicin peritoneally seven times throughout the study. Expression of LHR and spermatogenesis was measured by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), respectively. Results: Data analysis showed a significant decrement in the spermatogenesis and expression of LHR in the doxorubicin group compared with the control group (P ≤ 0.0001). Also, the interaction of HIIT and Cr caused the most significant increase in LHR expression and spermatogenesis (P ≤ 0.03). The effect of HIIT on LHR expression and spermatogenesis was higher than that of Cr consumption (P ≤ 0.05). Conclusions: To prevent the harmful side effect of doxorubicin on testicular tissue HIIT and Cr consumption are recommended. Also, the positive effect of HIIT was significantly higher than Cr consumption.