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Abstract
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Correlation between metals may be useful in predicting toxicity to various biologically important organisms. The purpose of the current analysis was to evaluate the association of levels zinc, copper and iron in the ram blood serum, testicular tissue and epididymal tissue, and correlations of these elements to luteinizing hormone were investigated. Materials and methods Testis and blood samples used for this study were collected from forty five healthy adult rams from Hamadan abattoir. Metals concentrations were measured by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). Concentration of LH was measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Statistical analysis of data was carried out using the SAS software version 9.2. The level of significance was set at P<0.01 and P<0.05. Results The mean concentrations of metals in blood serum, epididymal tissue and testicular tissue were: zinc 1.29 (μg/ ml), 184.11 (μg/g) and 212.46 (μg/g), respectively, copper 0.36 (μg/ml), 18.92 (μg/g) and 16.78 (μg/g), respectively, iron 2.42 (μg/ml), 110.06 (μg/g) and 150.53 (μg/g), respectively. The mean concentration of LH in blood serum was 58.86 (ng/L). The analysis showed high positive correlation between serum copper and serum iron (r=0.400), serum copper and iron epididymal (r=0.484), serum copper and zinc testicular (r=0.542), serum iron and copper epididymal (r=0.482), zinc epididymal and copper epididymal (r=0.434), zinc epididymal and iron epididymal (r=0.622), zinc epididymal and zinc testicular r=0.489), copper epididymal and iron epididymal (r=0.450), iron epididymal and zinc testicular (r=0.457), zinc testicular and copper testicular (r=0.464), zinc testicular and iron testicular (r=0.783) . There was no correlation between the metals and serum luteinizing hormone. Conclusion In conclusion, our results suggest that there are positive correlation in the concentration of studied elements (zinc, copper and iron) in blood serum, testicular tissue and epididymal tissue. Furth
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