Hindawi Publishing Corporation Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology Volume 2012, Article ID 362049, 11 pages doi:10.1155/2012/362049 Research Article A Standardized Extract of Ginkgo biloba Neutralizes Cisplatin-Mediated Reproductive Toxicity in Rats Amr Amin, 1, 2 Christeena Abraham, 1 Alaaeldin A. Hamza, 1 Zeinab A. Abdalla, 1 Shaikha B. Al-Shamsi, 1 Saina S. Harethi, 1 and Sayel Daoud 3 1 Biology Department, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain 17551, UAE 2 Zoology Department, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt 3 Histopathology Laboratory, Tawam Hospital in affiliation with Johns Hopkins Medicine, Al Ain, UAE Correspondence should be addressed to Amr Amin, a.amin@uaeu.ac.ae Received 26 January 2012; Revised 15 February 2012; Accepted 27 February 2012 Academic Editor: Metka Filipiˇ c Copyright © 2012 Amr Amin et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The aim of this study was to evaluate the protective effects of Ginkgo biloba (GB) against testicular damage and oxidative stress as well as caudal sperm indices in a cisplatin- (CIS-) induced rodent model. Adult male Wistar rats were given vehicle, single i.p. dose of CIS alone (10 mg/kg), GB alone (200 mg g/kg every day for five days), or single dose of CIS followed by GB (50, 100, or 200 mg/kg every day for five days). On day 6, after the first drug treatment oxidative and apoptotic testicular toxicity was evaluated. CIS-treated rats displayed decreased weights of testes and epididymis as well as caudal sperm count and motility. This reproductive toxicity was accompanied with increased germ-cell degeneration in seminiferous tubules and increased germ-cell apoptosis, increased testicular MDA levels and MPO activity, and decreased SOD and CAT activities in testes. Intensive expressions of COX-2, iNOS, and NF-κB p65 in testicular tissues were detected in CIS-treated group. Oral GB administrations at all doses to CIS-treated rats effectively alleviated all of the CIS-induced toxicity in reproductive system. The present results provide further insights into the mechanisms of protection against CIS-induced reproductive toxicity and confirm the essential antioxidant potential of a GB extract. 1. Introduction Chemotherapy has emerged as an efficient mode of treat- ment for various carcinogenesis. Effective systemic drugs are increasingly used to treat cancer patients. Cisplatin (cis-diamminedichloroplatinum-II, CIS), one of the most effective and widely prescribed anticancer drugs, is still used in the treatment of many types of solid tumors including testicular cancer [1, 2]. It has been proven highly effective in curing testicular cancer in combination with other drugs even at an advanced stage of the disease [3]. CIS kills cancer cells by forming covalent adducts with the cellular DNA molecules and thereby terminating the vital processes like replication and transcription and inducing apoptosis [4]. In spite of its high efficiency in the treatment of testicular cancer, CIS has severe adverse effects on spermatogenesis and even leads to a condition of azoospermia [5, 6]. Sper- matogenesis is a complex process which is highly influenced by hormone molecules and temperature and involves an array of testicular cells such as germ cells, Sertoli cells, Leydig cells, and peritubular cells [7, 8]. Acute exposure to antineoplastic agents like CIS has shown an increase in the frequency of germ-cell apoptosis [9, 10] in experimental animals. Moreover, it can also lead to decreased reproductive organ weights, azoospermia, and degenerated spermatogenic cells [11, 12]. The molecular mechanism by which CIS causes reproductive toxicity and germ-cell apoptosis remains to be elucidated. However, pathogenesis of testicular damage followed by CIS exposure is generally ascribed to oxidative stress mediated by increased free radical generation and depletion of antioxidants. Free radicals have been reported to mediate reactions responsible for a wide range of CIS- induced side effects [9, 11]. Consequently, antioxidants have been shown to protect nonmalignant cells and organs against damage by CIS [9, 11, 13]. Ginkgo biloba (GB) has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for about 5000 years, and it is one of the herbal drugs that is used widely according to its antioxidant