Abstract
Background and Objective: Rosemary is a fragrant evergreen herb. It has been hailed since ancient times for its medicinal properties. This work aimed to evaluate the biosafety and the protective role of rosemary essential oil (REO) against the genotoxic and histopathological alterations induced by paracetamol (PC). Materials and Methods: Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was performed to evaluate the chemical constituents of the extract. The biosafety and genotoxicity of REO were determined 24 h after oral treatment with the doses 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 mL kg(-1) for 5 successive days. The genotoxic effect of PC was evaluated after a single oral treatment with the dose 300 mg kg(-1) and the protective role of REO was determined at the three tested doses administrated for 5 consecutive days and at the last day of treatment, PC was administrated and samples were collected after 24 h for chromosomal aberrations and histopathological investigation. With respect to morphological sperm abnormalities, treatment of mice were performed with the tested materials for five successive days and samples were taken after 35 days from the first treatment. Results: Paracetamol induced significant genotoxic effect and testicular damage while REO has safe bioactivity at the tested doses. In addition, it prohibits the percentage of chromosomal and DNA damage. The percentage of sperm abnormalities induced by PC was also inhibited after treatment with REO. The histological alterations induced by PC in testicular tissue were positively restored especially in animals pre-treated with the doses (0.4 and 0.6 mL kg(-1)) and the tissue maintained a histological picture nearly similar to that of the control group. Conclusion: This study showed important bioactivities and safety potential of rosemary essential oil. It can modulate genetic damage and histological alterations induced by PC.