Abstract
The risks of heavy consumption of energy drinks have become a significant health problem. Concerns have been raised about the adverse health effects of these products. This study was performed to investigate the possible histopathological and immunohistochemical changes in the testis induced by excessive and prolonged consumption of Red Bull, one of the most consumed energy drinks all over the world, in rats and the possible mechanism of such changes. Thirty adult male albino rats were randomly allocated into two groups, each of 15 animals. Rats of control group received distilled water (1.071ml/100 g/day) for three months. Rats of Red Bull group received an equivalent dose of Red Bull for three months. At the end of the experiment, all animals were sacrificed under anesthesia and the testes were excised and processed for histopathological and immunohistochemical studies. Consumption of Red Bull energy drink caused extensive atrophy and damage of numerous seminiferous tubules with marked loss of germinal epithelial cells and marked interstitial edema. Immunostaining results demonstrated marked increase of NF-kB/p65 and COX-2 in testis of rats following consumption of Red Bull energy drink. The results of this study suggest that excessive and prolonged consumption of Red Bull energy drink induces extensive histopathological lesions in the testis of rats through upregulation of NF-kB/p65 and COX-2. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by IASE.