Résumé
Background: acyclovir [ACV] is known to be toxic to gonads, inducing apoptosis in the reproductive system. The beneficial effects of vitamin C [Vit C] and menthone, both as antioxidant agents on various organs has been reported
Objective: this study evaluated the potential role of the Vit C and menthone on the DNA damage in rat spermatozoa induced by the ACV
Materials and Methods: in this experimental study, adult male albino Wistar rats with average weight of 250 +/- 10 gr, were divided into six groups [n=18/each], as: ACV [15 mg/kg/day], ACV+Vit C [20 mg/kg/day], ACV+ menthone [100 micro l/d], ACV+ menthone [250 micro l/d], ACV+ menthone [400 micro l/day] and control group without any treatment. At the end of experiment, the animals were sacrificed and sperm samples were collected and isolated in phosphate-buffered saline and examined by TUNEL staining process. The percentage of TUNEL positive spermatozoa was evaluated by fluorescence microscopy. Each experiment was performed in three repeats
Results: male rats exposed to ACV had significant increase in DNA damages in comparison to other groups. The percentage of TUNEL positive sperm cells was 90.83 [p<0.001] in ACV group. The protective role of both antioxidants used in high dose, compensate the adverse effects of the ACV. The results showed that the percentage of apoptotic sperm in the ACV+Vit C group was 16.38 [p<0.001] and in the ACV+ menthone [400 micro l/d] group was 16.05 [p<0.001]
Conclusion: the present results showed that Vit C and menthone at higher dose have a good compensatory effect with significant reduction in DNA damages in sperm cells by reversing the adverse effect of ACV on the reproductive system in male rat
Résumé
Background: Nonoxynol-9 a nonionic surfactant is widely used for its spermicidal effects. Finding new sperm immobilizing agents is necessary because Nonoxynol-9 damages the tissues of female reproductive system
Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of Thymoquinone [TQ] as a potential spermostatic compound on the motility and viability of human spermatozoa
Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, the effects of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 microg/ml, 1 and 10 mg/ml of TQ on normozoospermic semen samples were investigated. Sperm motility and viability were compared between untreated and TQ-treated aliquots of each semen sample. To evaluate the effects of TQ on the alteration of mitochondrial membrane potential [MMP], 32 semen samples were examined using 50 microg/ml of TQ. Flow cytometric analysis was performed after staining of spermatozoa with JC-1
Results: Doses above 20 microg/ml of TQ could eventually immobilize all spermatozoa in culture medium. Adding 50 microg/ml of TQ did not significantly diminish the percentage of viable spermatozoa and flow cytometry results revealed that this amount of TQ could decrease sperm MMP
Conclusion: TQ could discontinue the movement of sperm cells in medium without reducing the population of live spermatozoa. It is more likely that TQ exerts its spermostatic action by mitigating the MMP of spermatozoa. Therefore, TQ could be considered as a potential new natural spermostatic chemical