ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the effect of ginsenoside Rg1 on the apoptosis of spermatogenic cell in rats with experimentally induced varicocele.Methods A total of 32 adolescent male Wistar rats were included and randomly divided into 4 groups, including sham operation, left varicocele induced, left varicocele induced and low-dose ginsenoside Rg1(5 mg/kg), left varicocele induced and high-dose ginsenoside Rg1 (10 mg/kg), 8 rats in each group.The experimentally induced varicocele was established by Turner method.4 weeks after modeling, the two treatment groups received ginsenoside Rg1 of different dosages by gavage and sham operation and left varicocele induced group received the same volume of NS by gavage, once daily.4 weeks after gavaging, the rats were sacrificed then tissue from left testicle were taken, and the spermatogenic cell apoptosis was detected by TUNEL and Bcl-2 and caspase-3 expressions were detected by immunohistochemistry.Results The protein level of Bcl-2 in ginsenoside Rg1 intervention group was significantly higher than varicocele group, and it was obviously higher in high-dose ginsenoside Rg1 group than low-dose ginsenoside Rg1 group (P<0.05).However, the expression of caspase-3 in ginsenoside Rg1 intervention group was significantly lower than varicocele group, but was higher than sham operation, the expression of caspase-3 in high dose ginsenoside Rg1 group was obviously lower than low dose ginsenoside Rg1 group (P<0.05).The apoptotic index was lowest in sham operation, and which was significantly lower in ginsenoside Rg1 intervention group than varicocele group, and the apoptotic index in high-dose ginsenoside Rg1 group was obviously lower than low-dose ginsenoside Rg1 group ( P<0.05 ) . Conclusion Ginsenoside Rg1 could significantly reduce the testicular sperm cells apoptosis in experimental varicocele rats, raise the Bcl-2 gene expression and inhibiting the expression of caspase-3.