Protective effects of tribulus terrestris extract and angiotensin blockers on testis steroidogenesis in copper overloaded rats

Protective effects of polysaccharide extracted from green alga Chaetomorpha linum against zinc and copper-induced testicular toxicity in male mice

This study aimed to investigate the effects of copper (CuSO4) and zinc (ZnSO4) overload on male reproductive toxicity and the potential of a polysaccharide extracted from green alga Chaetomorpha linum (PS) in mitigating their toxicities. Adult male mice strain of 25 ± 2 g of weight was subdivided into eight groups. Group 1 served as control; group 2 received PS (200 mg/kg), and groups 3 and 4 received intraperitoneally zinc (60 mg/kg b.w) and copper (33 mg/kg b.w), respectively. Group 5 received both zinc (60 mg/kg b.w) and copper (33 mg/kg b.w), group 6 received zinc (60 mg/kg b.w) associated with PS (200 mg/kg), group 7 received copper (33 mg/kg b.w) associated with PS (200 mg/kg), and group 8 received zinc (60 mg/kg b.w) and copper (33 mg/kg b.w) associated with PS (200 mg/kg). Results suggested that ZnSO4 and CuSO4 significantly decreased the functional sperm parameters. Furthermore, extended exposure to these elements increased oxidative stress biomarkers, including malondialdehyde (MDA) as a measure of lipid peroxidation and advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP) indicating protein oxidative damage. This process also reduces the activity of antioxidant enzymes such as glutathione (GSH) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx), which neutralize and catalyze free radicals. Histopathological changes in mice testis were also studied. However, the co-treatments with PS significantly reduced these effects and promoted the reproductive parameters in male mice. In conclusion, PS exhibited protective effects against zinc and copper-induced reproductive toxicity, making it a potential adjuvant treatment for testicular toxicity.

Molecular Regulatory Mechanism of Nano-Se Against Copper-Induced Spermatogenesis Disorder

Selenium nanoparticle (Nano-Se) is a new type of selenium supplement, which can improve the deficiency of traditional selenium supplements and maintain its physiological activity. Due to industrial pollution and irrational use in agriculture, Cu overexposure often occurs in animals and humans. In this study, Nano-Se alleviated CuSO4-induced testicular Cu accumulation, serum testosterone level decrease, testicular structural damage, and decrease in sperm quality. Meanwhile, Nano-Se reduced the ROS content in mice testis and enhanced the activities of T-AOC, GSH, SOD, and CAT compared with CuSO4 group. Furthermore, Nano-Se alleviated CuSO4-induced apoptosis by increasing the protein expression of Cleaved-Caspase-3, Cleaved-Caspase-9, Cleaved-Caspase-12, and Bax/Bcl-2 compared with CuSO4 group. At the same time, Nano-Se reversed CuSO4-induced increase of γ-H2AX protein expression in mice testis. In conclusion, this study confirmed that Nano-Se could alleviate oxidative stress, apoptosis, and DNA damage in the testis of mice with Cu excess, thereby protecting the spermatogenesis disorder induced by Cu.

Trehalosemodulates OVRAS to improve oxidative stress and apoptosis in KGN cells and ovaries of PCOS mice

The etiology of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is complex and variable, and there is no exact cause or good treatment method. Most of the methods of hormones are used to temporarily meet the needs of patients. Experimental evidence has shown that trehalose has, anti-apoptotic, anti-oxidative, glucose-lowering, and insulin resistance effects. However, whether trehalose has a therapeutic effect on PCOS is unknown. It has been reported that the ovarian renin-angiotensin system (OVRAS) is involved in the development of PCOS, but it has not been fully elucidated. This study aims to explore the effect of trehalose on PCOS and elucidate the related OVRAS mechanism. We first observed that body weight, estrous cycle, ovarian follicles at all levels, glucose tolerance, serum hormones, and insulin resistance were improved by trehalose treatment in the PCOS mouse model. Moreover, trehalose treatment also ameliorated ovarian oxidative stress and apoptosis in PCOS mice, as determined by TUNNEL apoptosis staining, total SOD in ovarian homogenate, and WB assay. OVRAS mainly involves two classic pathways, namely the ACE/AngII/AT1R/AT2R, and ACE2 / Ang1-7/ MASR, Which play different functions. In PCOS mouse ovaries, we found that ACE/AngII/AT1R was up-regulated and ACE2/Ang1-7/MASR and AT2R were down-regulated by PCR and WB experiments, However, trehalose treatment changed its direction. In addition, we also found that trehalose ameliorated DHEA-induced oxidative stress and apoptosis in KGN by PCR and WB experiments, mainly by down-regulating ACE/AngII/AT1R. Our study shows that trehalose improves symptoms of PCOS mainly by down-regulating ACE/AngII/AT1R, revealing a potential therapeutic target for PCOS.

What is the effect of Tribulus terrestris on testicular morphology and sperm production? An experimental study in the rat model

The objective of this study was to investigate whether treatment with Tribulus terrestris (Tt) has any impact on the testicular morphology and function in a rodent model. Twenty male rats were divided into a control group and a group receiving 100 mg kg -1 body weight of Tt supplementation. After 40 days of experiment, the animals were submitted to euthanasia; epididymal tail spermatozoa were collected; and spermatozoa concentration, motility, and viability were analyzed. In addition, testicles were collected and processed for histomorphometrical analyses. Data were compared using the Student's t -test and considered significant when P < 0.05. Spermatozoa concentration, motility, and viability showed no difference between the groups. Further, testicular weight and volume, seminiferous tubule diameter, tunica propria surface density, seminiferous epithelium surface density, and intertubular compartment surface density were statistically similar between the groups. However, seminiferous epithelium height and tubular lumen surface density were augmented in animals treated with Tt. Treatment with Tt does not cause a major impact on testicular morphology, promoting only subtle modifications. No difference on spermatozoa parameters was observed.

The Profertility and Aphrodisiac Activities of Tribulus terrestris L.: Evidence from Meta-Analyses

Tribulus terrestris L. (TT) is a traditional medicinal plant, which belongs to the Zygophyllaceae family. TT extracts have been widely used for diuretic, analeptic, aphrodisiac, and profertility properties. To quantitatively evaluate the profertility and aphrodisiac effects of Tribulus terrestris L., we undertook the present meta-analyses on published data. A thorough literature screening was performed to identify articles evaluating the effect of TT on spermatogenesis, male fertility, reproductive, and aphrodisiac parameters. We shortlisted 30 relevant studies conducted on humans and rodents. Meta-analyses were conducted to evaluate the quantitative impact of TT on various fertility parameters. In case of humans, the pooled analysis on 133 subjects showed significant improvements in sperm concentration ( $\text{SDM}=0.624$ , 95% $\text{CI}=0.13$ to 1.117, $p=0.013$ ) and sperm motility ( $\text{SDM}=0.742$ , 95% $\text{CI}=0.331$ to 1.152, $p=0.001$ ). TT resulted in nonsignificant increases in testosterone and LH and a nonsignificant decrease in FSH. Similar to the above, TT improved sperm count, sperm motility, and sperm viability in rodents with normal or compromised fertility. The effect on hormone levels was less credible with frequent variations across studies and animal models. The aphrodisiac activity was studied in castrated animal models or normal rodents, both of which showed significant improvements in mounting frequency and intromission frequency and significant declines in mounting latency and intromission latency. These meta-analyses suggested that TT possesses profertility and aphrodisiac activities.

Copper Induces Spleen Damage Through Modulation of Oxidative Stress, Apoptosis, DNA Damage, and Inflammation

Copper (Cu) is an essential micronutrient for both humans and animals; however, excessive intake of Cu can be immunotoxic. There are limited studies on spleen toxicity induced by Cu. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of Cu on spleen oxidative stress, apoptosis, and inflammatory responses in mice orally administered with 0 mg/kg, 10 mg/kg, 20 mg/kg, and 40 mg/kg of CuSO₄ for 42 days. As discovered in this work, copper sulfate (CuSO₄) reduced the activities of antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT, and GSH-Px), decreased GSH contents, and increased MDA contents. Meanwhile, CuSO₄ induced apoptosis by increasing TUNEL-positive cells in the spleen. Also, CuSO₄ increased the expression of γ-H2AX, which is the marker of DNA damage. Concurrently, CuSO₄ caused inflammation by increasing the mRNA levels of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-12, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and interferon-γ (IFN-γ). In conclusion, the abovementioned findings demonstrate that over 10 mg/kg CuSO₄ can cause oxidative stress, apoptosis, DNA damage, and inflammatory responses, which contribute to spleen dysfunction in mice.

Induction of autophagy via the ROS-dependent AMPK-mTOR pathway protects copper-induced spermatogenesis disorder

Copper (Cu) is a necessary micronutrient at lower concentration, while excessive Cu exposure or Cu homeostasis disorders can lead to toxicity. The mechanism of male reproductive toxicity induced by Cu is still unknown. This study aims to investigate whether autophagy plays an important role in copper-induced spermatogenesis disorder in vivo and vitro. The present study showed that copper sulfate (CuSO₄) might significantly promote autophagy level in the testis and mouse-derived spermatogonia cell line GC-1 spg cells. Concurrently, CuSO₄ could induce autophagy via AMPK-mTOR pathway that downregulated p-mTOR/mTOR and subsequently upregulated p-AMPKα/AMPKα as well as p-ULK1/ULK1. In the meanwhile, CuSO₄ treatment could also increase expression levels of the autophagy-related proteins. Then, the role of oxidative stress in CuSO₄-induced autophagy was investigated. The findings demonstrated that oxidative stress inhibitor (NAC) attenuated CuSO₄-induced autophagy in vivo and vitro, reversing the activation for AMPK-mTOR pathway. Additionally, the study also investigated how autophagy worked under the spermatogenesis disorder induced by CuSO₄. Inhibition of autophagy could decrease cell viability, and enhance the ROS accumulation and apoptosis in the GC-1 cells, meanwhile, the spermatogenesis disorder, oxidative stress and histopathological changes were increased in the testis. Furthermore, co-treatment with the apoptosis inhibitor (Z-VAD-FMK) could decrease the spermatogenesis disorder but not influence autophagy. Besides, the crosslink between autophagy and ferroptosis were also measured, the data showed that inhibition of autophagy could suppress CuSO₄-induced ferroptosis in in vivo and vitro. Altogether, abovementioned results indicated that CuSO₄ induced autophagy via oxidative stress-dependent AMPK-mTOR pathway in the GC-1 cells and testis, and autophagy activation possibly led to the generation of protection mechanism through oxidative damage and apoptosis inhibition, however, autophagy also aggravate CuSO₄ toxicology through promoting ferroptosis. Overall, autophagy plays a positive role for attenuating CuSO₄-induced testicular damage and spermatogenesis disorder. Our study provides a possible targeted therapy for Cu overload-induced reproduction toxicology.

Chrysin and flunixin meglumine mitigate overloaded copper-induced testicular and spermatological damages via modulation of oxidative stress and apoptosis in rats

This study aimed to evaluate the possible protective actions of chrysin and flunixine meglumine on testicular and spermatological injuries experimentally stimulated by copper. We separated 36 male Sprague-Dawley rats into six equal groups: control, chrysin, flunixine meglumine, copper, copper +chrysin and copper +flunixine meglumine. Chrysin (50 mg/kg/bw/po), flunixine meglumine (2.2 mg/kg/bw/ip) and copper (500 mg/kg/bw/po) were administered day to day for 21 days. Copper administration caused significant morphological, physiological and biochemical alterations compared to the control group, which are as follows: production of oxidative stress, thanks to rise in testis lipid peroxidation and fall in antioxidant enzyme concentrations, decrease in sperm quality and increase in morphologic sperm abnormalities, suppression of spermatogenesis and prominent alterations in the testis histomorphology and induction of apoptosis in the testis tissues. On the other hand, compared to the copper group, treatment with chrysin or flunixine meglumine significantly attenuated these alterations. In conclusion, chrysin and flunixine meglumine have benefits such as antioxidant, antiapoptotic and anti-inflammatory against copper-induced testicular and spermatological damages in rats via the modulation of oxidative stress and apoptosis. Consequently, chrysin is a natural product which has comparable therapeutic actions to flunixine meglumine on the male reproductive system.

Cu-induced spermatogenesis disease is related to oxidative stress-mediated germ cell apoptosis and DNA damage

Copper is considered as an indispensable trace element for living organisms. However, over-exposure to Cu can lead to adverse health effects on human. In this study, CuSO₄ decreased sperm concentration and motility, increased sperm malformation rate. Concurrently, testicular damage including testicular histopathological aberrations and reduction of testis relative weight were observed. Then, the mechanism underlying Cu-induced testicular toxicity was explored. According to the results, CuSO₄ elevated ROS production while reducing antioxidant function. Additionally, CuSO₄ induced apoptosis which was featured by MMP depolarization and up-regulated levels of cleaved-caspase-3, cleaved-caspase-8, cleaved-caspase-9, caspase-12, cleaved-PARP and Bax, whereas down-regulated Bcl-2 expression. Meanwhile, CuSO₄ caused testis DNA damage (up-regulation of γ-H2AX protein expression) and suppressed DNA repair pathways including BER, NER, HR, MMR, together with the NHEJ repair pathways, yet did not affect MGMT. To investigate the role of oxidative stress in CuSO₄-induced apoptosis and DNA damage, the antioxidant NAC was co-treated with CuSO₄. NAC attenuated CuSO₄-induced ROS production, inhibited apoptosis and DNA damage. Furthermore, the spermatogenesis disorder was also abolished in the co-treatment with CuSO₄ and NAC group. Altogether, abovementioned results indicated that CuSO₄-induced spermatogenesis disorder is related to oxidative stress-mediated DNA damage and germ cell apoptosis, impairing male reproductive function.

Protective roles of thymoquinone and vildagliptin in manganese-induced nephrotoxicity in adult albino rats

Despite being important in the body's mechanisms, excessive accumulation of manganese (Mn) can induce severe toxicity in vital organs of the body. Thymoquinone (TQ) is extracted from Nigella sativa seeds which recently gained popularity as dietary supplements and plant-based antioxidants. Vildagliptin (VLD) is a dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPPIV) inhibitor, approved as anti-hyperglycemic agents with cardioprotective and renoprotective effects. The present study aimed to investigate the nephrotoxicity of Mn and the potential protective effects of thymoquinone and vildagliptin. Sixty-four adult male albino rats were equally divided into 8 groups: group I (control, received no medication), group II (vehicle, received normal saline), group III (TQ, 50 mg/kg/day), group IV (VLD, 10 mg/kg/day), group V (MnCl₂, 50 mg/kg/day), group VI (Mn+TQ), group VII (Mn+VLD), and group VIII (Mn+TQ+VLD). Groups VI, VII, and VIII, received the same previously mentioned doses. All drugs were orally gavaged for 12 weeks. Manganese administration resulted in an elevation in the levels of serum and tissues Mn, blood glucose, serum urea, creatinine, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and reduction in insulin, kidney superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH), and interleukin-10. Histopathological structural renal damage was detected associated with strong positive immunoexpression of caspase-3. On the other hand, individual or combined TQ and VLD administration with Mn significantly decreased the serum and tissue levels of Mn, declined the blood glucose, inflammatory markers, oxidative stress markers, ameliorated the histopathological effects, and down-regulated the immunoexpression of caspase-3. In conclusion, TQ and VLD co-administration elicited protective effects against Mn-induced nephrotoxicity.