Received April 10, 2023
Accepted February 26, 2024

The impact of the anti-depressant therapy on gonadal function has been recognized and discussed over the years. However, data to supplement our understanding of the impact of arjunolic acid (AA) therapies in protecting against FXT-induced gonadal dysfunction is lacking clear scientific evidence. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the possible effect of AA on fluoxetine-induced altered testicular function in rats. After 14 days acclimatization, the experiments were randomly divided into 6 groups with six (6) rats each. Rats in groups 1 received normal saline (10 mL/kg); group 2 &3 were given AA (1.0 mg/100gm body weight) and corn oil (2.0 mg/100gm body weight) respectively, whereas rats in groups 4 were given FXT (10 mg/kg/p.o./day), and group 5 & 6 were given a combination of FXT (10 mg/kg) + AA (1.0 mg/100g body weight) and FXT (10 mg/kg) + AA (2.0 mg/100g body weight) respectively. The results shows that FXT significantly altered testicular steroidogenic enzymes (3ß-HSD and 17ß-HSD), proton pump ATPase (Na+/K+ ATPase, Ca2+ ATPase and H+ ATPase) activities, as well as testicular architecture when compared with controls. More so, the FXT was revealed to caused oxido-inflammation and apoptosis as evidence by increased in MDA, MPO, TNF-α, IL-1ß, Caspase 3 and p53. However, AA at different dose dependent significantly ameliorated the destructive impacts of FXT on steroidogenic enzymes, proton pump ATPase as well as increased Bcl-2, SOD, CAT, GSH and improving the testicular architecture in rats. In conclusion, AA reverses fluoxetine-induced alterations in testicular steroidogenic enzymes and membrane bound ionic pump.