ABSTRACT
With the growing population, aging, extended lifespans and anti-aging have become popular areas of research in the life and social sciences. With increasing age, the structure and function of the testes, the spermatogenetic and androgenproducing organ in the male reproductive system, gradually declines. Ginsenoside Rg1 is an extract of Panax ginseng in traditional Chinese medicine. The extract facilitates antiaging through its antiinflammatory and antioxidant properties. However, it has not been reported whether ginsenoside Rg1 delays testicular aging. The present study established Dgalactose (Dgal)induced aging mouse models to examine the protective effects of ginsenoside Rg1 on the structure and function of the testes, and the underlying mechanism. A total of 60 healthy specific pathogenfree male C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into four groups: Control group; Rg1 group; Dgal + Rg1 group; and Dgal group. The tissues of the mice were used for further experiments. The present study further investigated the effects of Rg1 on the volume of serum testosterone, the testicular index, testicular microscopic structures, the senescence of spermatogenetic cells, the apoptosis of spermatogenetic cells, the activity of the antioxidant enzymes, the levels of inflammatory cytokines, and the levels of Sphase kinaseassociated protein (p19), cyclindependent kinase inhibitor 1 (p21) and cellular tumor antigen p53 (p53) in Dgalinduced aging mice. In general, compared with the Dgal group, the treatment of Rg1 increased the testis index, serum testosterone level and the active content of superoxide dismutase and the total antioxidant capacity. The percentage of senescenceassociated ßgalactosidasepositive cells, the level of apoptosis and the volume of methane dicarboxylic aldehyde, tumor necrosis factorα, interleukin (IL)1ß and IL6 in testicular tissues were significantly decreased, and the expression of p19, p53 and p21 was downregulated due to the treatment with Rg1. The results of the present study demonstrated that ginsenoside Rg1 was able to protect the testes against Dgalinduced aging in mice. In addition, the protective effect of Rg1 may be achieved via antioxidation and downregulation of the p19/p53/p21 signaling pathway.
Subject(s)
Aging/drug effects , Aging/metabolism , Cellular Senescence/drug effects , Galactose/adverse effects , Ginsenosides/pharmacology , Testis/metabolism , Aging/pathology , Animals , Galactose/pharmacology , Male , Mice , Testis/pathologyABSTRACT
The researches in the dynamic changes of the progress of HSCs aging are very limited and necessary. In this study, male C57BL/6 mice were divided into 5 groups by age. We found that the superoxide damage of HSPCs started to increase from the middle age (6 months old), with notably reduced antioxidation ability. In accordance with that, the senescence of HSPCs also started from the middle age, since the self-renewal and differentiation ability remarkably decreased, and senescence-associated markers SA-ß-GAL increased in the 6-month-old and the older groups. Interestingly, the telomere length and telomerase activity increased to a certain degree in the 6-month-old group. It suggested an intrinsic spontaneous ability of HSPCs against aging. It may provide a theoretical and experimental foundation for better understanding the senescence progress of HSPCs. And the dynamic biological characteristics of HSPCs senescence may also contribute to the clinical optimal time for antiaging drug intervention.