10.22376/ijpbs.2019.10.1.p1-12 Volume 4 Issue 1 2013 (January - March) The present study was aimed to investigate whether lessThan i greaterThan Lactobacillus casei lessThan /i greaterThan strain17 could protect the chromium (Cr) VI-induced oxidative stress in female reproductive system of rats and to explore the underlying mechanism of the same. A total of 24 lessThan i greaterThan Wistar lessThan /i greaterThan adult female rats were equally divided into four groups. Group 1 served as control, while groups 2 and 3 were administered K lessThan sub greaterThan 2 lessThan /sub greaterThan Cr lessThan sub greaterThan 2 lessThan /sub greaterThan O lessThan sub greaterThan 7 lessThan /sub greaterThan (10 mg/kg b.wt. s.c. single dose). In addition to Cr, group 3 also received lessThan i greaterThan Lactobacillus casei lessThan /i greaterThan (Lc) strain 17 at the rate of 1 x 10 lessThan sup greaterThan 9 lessThan /sup greaterThan CFU/rat/day for 14 days. Group 4 was maintained as probiotic control (dose as above). Body weights were recorded at the beginning and at the end of experiment. Further the rats were observed for occurrence of estrus cycle. At the end of 14 days, blood samples were drawn for sero-biochemical analysis. Subsequently, all the rats were sacrificed to collect uterus along with ovaries for assay of tissue peroxidation, antioxidant, functional markers and histopathology. Administration of chromium (Cr) VI to rats revealed a significant (p lessThan 0.05) accumulation of cholesterol and a prolonged diestrus phase leading to fertility impairment in rats.Administration of chromium (Cr) VI significantly (p lessThan 0.05) reduced the antioxidant markers such as superoxide dismutase (SOD) and reduced glutathione (GSH), along with significant (p lessThan 0.05) increase in peroxidation markers such as malondialdehyde and protein carbonyls in ovaries. The functional markers in serum such as total protein were decreased whereas other functional markers lessThan i greaterThan viz lessThan /i greaterThan alanine transaminase (ALT), blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine were increased. Prominent pathological changes were observed in the uterus and ovaries of Cr-treated group. Co-treatment with lessThan i greaterThan Lactobacillus casei lessThan /i greaterThan (Lc) strain 17 significantly (p lessThan 0.05) reversed the (Cr) VI induced changes. C S V SATISH KUMAR, M USHA RANI, K KONDAL REDDY, AND A GOPALA REDDY Chromium, oxidative stress, α-tocopherol, female reproductive system. 1119-1130