ABSTRACT
Oligozoospermia is a common infertility disease, and the incidence rate is increasing year by year. Cuscuta chinensis is a commonly used medicine for the treatment of oligozoospermia in Chinese medicine. Flavonoids are its main component. GM-CSF is a multifunctional cytokine that plays an important role in the inflammatory response. In this paper, we performed HE staining and immunohistochemical staining on the testis of rats with oligozoospermia. We intend to study the expression changes of GM-CSF in rats with oligospermia and the effect of flavonoids on the expression of GM-CSF in testis of rats with oligozoospermia.
La oligozoospermia es una enfermedad común de infertilidad, con una tasa de incidencia que aumenta año tras año. Cuscuta chinensis es un medicamento de uso común para el tratamiento de la oligozoospermia en la medicina china. Los flavonoides son su componente principal. GM-CSF es una citocina multifuncional que tiene un rol importante en la respuesta inflamatoria. En este trabajo, realizamos tinción con hematoxilina y eosina y tinción inmunohistoquímica en testículos de ratas con oligozoospermia. TNuestro objetivo fue estudiar los cambios de expresión de GM-CSF en ratas con oligozoospermia y el efecto de los flavonoides en la expresión de GM-CSF en testículos de ratas con oligozoospermia.
Subject(s)
Animals , Male , Rats , Oligospermia/metabolism , Oligospermia/drug therapy , Flavonoids/administration & dosage , Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor/metabolism , Cuscuta , Testis/drug effects , Testis/metabolism , Immunohistochemistry , Rats, Sprague-DawleyABSTRACT
Physiological function of reactive oxygen species (ROS) has been known since a long, but recently toxic effects of ROS on spermatozoa have gained much importance in male infertility. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is believed to be both source and target of ROS. mtDNA unlike nuclear DNA is not compactly packed and hence more susceptible to oxidative stress (OS) than nuclear DNA. In the present study, the role of OS in mitochondrial genome changes was studied in men with idiopathic infertility. The study included 33 infertile oligo-asthenozoospermic (OA) men and 30 fertile controls. Semen analyses were performed and OS was measured by estimating the level of malondialdehye (MDA) in the seminal plasma and ROS in the sperm. Sperm mtDNA was sequenced by standard PCR-DNA sequencing protocol for ATPase and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase (ND) groups of genes. Sperm count and progressive motility were found to be significantly lower in infertile group than the fertile controls. Semen MDA and ROS levels of infertile group were significantly higher (p<0.0001), when compared to the control group. However, catalase and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) levels were significantly lower in infertile group, compared to controls, but no significant difference in superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was observed between control and cases. This might be due to higher expression of SOD alone in order to overcome OS in the semen. mtDNA analysis showed significant and high frequency of nucleotide changes in the ATPase (6 and 8), ND (2, 3, 4 and 5) genes of infertile cases compared to the controls. Hence excess ROS and low antioxidant levels in the semen might cause mtDNA mutations and vice versa in OA men that might impair the fertilizing capacity of spermatozoa. Thus, it is important to understand the etiology of mitochondrial genome mutations in idiopathic OA cases for better diagnostic and prognostic value in infertility treatment/assisted reproductive technique
Subject(s)
Adult , Antioxidants/metabolism , Asthenozoospermia/genetics , Asthenozoospermia/metabolism , Case-Control Studies , DNA, Mitochondrial/genetics , Humans , Male , Mutation , Oligospermia/genetics , Oligospermia/metabolism , Oxidative Stress , Semen/metabolism , Spermatozoa/metabolism , Spermatozoa/pathology , Spermatozoa/ultrastructureABSTRACT
This study was undertaken to investigate whether there is relationship between seminal plasma transferrin and seminal parameters which included sperm count, motility and morphology. The study included 100 male subjects in the age group of 23-41 yrs including 7 proven fertility, 6 post-vasectomised and 87 subjects were of idiopathic infertility. Estimation of seminal plasma transferrin concentration was done by using Mancini's single radial immunodiffusion technique. Study of the seminal parameters (Sperm count, Motility and Morphology) was done by using guidelines of WHO Manual. Mean seminal plasma transferrin concentration in proven fertility subject was 5.35 mg/dl (+/- 2.07) and in normozoospermic subject was 4.63 mg/dl (+/- 2.50) which was significantly higher (P < 0.001) than those of oligozoospermic, azoospermic and post-vasectomised subjects. Coefficient of correlation between seminal plasma transferrin concentration and sperm count was statistically significant (r = 0.3087, P < 0.001). The seminal plasma transferrin concentration was correlated with the percentage of motile sperms and was statistically significant. However no correlation could be demonstrated with various grades of motility. Statistically significant correlation was not found between transferrin and sperm morphology. The present study demonstrates that seminal plasma transferrin concentration is correlated with sperm count and percent motile sperms. Thus sertoli cell secretion-transferin has a positive influence over spermatogenesis and can be used as a marker of testicular function.