effect of crocin on pituitary- testicle hormonal axis in alloxan -induced diabetic male rats

background: diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disease which causes some disorders in reproductive system. recent studies have revealed that main components of saffron like crocin and safranal have a large number of physiological effects on different biological systems.objectives: due to the role of crocin in modulation of antioxidant defense system, the aim of this study was to determine the effect of crocin on pituitary- testicle hormonal axis in alloxan -induced diabetic male rats.methods: in this experimental study, 28 wistar male rats were divided into 4 equal groups: control, diabetic control, and two treated diabetic groups. diabetes was induced by using an intraperitoneal injection of 240 mg/kg alloxan. crocin at concentrations of 50 and 100 mg/kg (0.5 ml) was intraperitoneally injected into the two treated diabetic groups for 25 days. saline solution (0.5 ml) was injected into the animals of control and diabetic control groups for 25 days. while the treatment period is over, serum levels of lh, fsh, estrogen, testosterone and dht was measured by elisa. the statistical analysis was carried out using one-way anova and post hoc tukey tests. p<0.05 was considered meaningful.results: in comparison with diabetic control group, crocin administration in 50 and 100 mg/kg significantly increased serum levels of lh, fsh, estrogen , testosterone and dht in a dose-dependent manner (p<0.05).conclusion: the results show that crocin improves hormonal activity in diabetic rats by increasing the activity of pituitary-testicular hormone axis.