Fig. 1

Paraffin sections from adult Wistar albino rat testis stained by H&E and photographed at low and high powers (× 100 bar = 200 µm and × 400 bar = 50 µm, respectively). Group 1 (Control): Normal control with seminiferous tubules (ST) showing regular outlines and fully-thickened intact germ cell layers (double heads arrow) with mature sperm tails extending to the lumen (star). Interstitial cells show normal morphology (white arrows). Group 2 (Low dose Code Red): shows sporadically scattered tubules with marked degeneration and loss of germ cell layers (thin black arrows). Interstitial cells appear sparse and degenerated (thick black arrow). Group 3 (High dose Code Red): shows marked interstitial vascular congestion (white arrows), numerous tubules with degenerated germ cells (black arrows), and thickened fibrous interstitial tissue (white stars). Group 4 (Low dose Code Red + Blueberry): shows marked protection against Code Red-induced trophic changes on spermatogenic cells. Group 5 (High dose Code Red + Blueberry): shows a decrease in the degeneration of seminiferous tubules (black arrows), with most of the tubules having near fully-thickened germ cell layers (black arrows and double heads arrows). A few tubules show degenerated cells (dotted arrows) with nearby congested blood vessels (thick white arrow). Also, the interstitial tissue shows thickened blood vessels and degenerated cells (thick black arrow)