Protective Effects of Vitamin E on Heart and Testis Histology Following MDMA (Ecstasy) Exposure in Mice

Acute exposure toMDMA(methylenedioxymethamphetamine) has some adverse effects on reproductive and cardiovascular
systems, possibly because of oxidative stress induction. Supplementary vitamins such as vitamin E can decrease the rate of
oxidative stress and prevent the incidence of dysfunction in organs.
Objectives: This study was designed to evaluate the adverse effects of MDMA exposure on the testis and heart tissue and elucidate
the protective effect of vitamin E as a potent antioxidant.
Patients and Methods: We assigned 28 male albino mice into four equal groups including control, MDMA, MDMA + vitamin E, and
olive oil as a solvent of the vitamin. Mice were killed at the end of day 35 to conduct histological and plasma examinations. To find
the relationship and make pair-wise comparisons, the one-way ANOVA test and Tukey test were used, respectively.
Results: The mean values of seminiferous epithelial height (SEH), seminiferous tubular diameter (STD), spermatogenesis indices,
and the average number of Leydig and Sertoli cells were significantly lower in testicular tissues of theMDMAgroup. The mentioned
parameters were significantly higher in theMDMA+ vitamin E group than in theMDMAgroup (P < 0.05). The apoptosis rate in both
testis and heart tissues was significantly lower in the MDMA + vitamin E group than in the MDMA group (P < 0.05). Moreover, CPK
and LDH as cardiac markers were significantly higher in the MDMA group than in the other groups.
Conclusions: The results clearly suggest that vitamin E considerably attenuates the deleterious effects of MDMA.