Low testicular zinc level, p53 expression and impairment of Sertoli cell phagocytosis of residual bodies in rat subjected to psychological stress.

Psychological stress is a known aetiology of infertility. However, the mechanisms translating it to reproductive dysfunction are not fully elucidated. Three experiments were performed on Wistar rats were designed to evaluate Sertoli cell function under stress. In Experiment I, rats were randomised into three groups: saline baseline group given saline, ASEMA baseline group given aqueous extract of Massularia acuminata, zinc baseline group administered zinc orally. In Experiment II, exposure to psychological stress (for 1 hour per day) was layered on Experiment I while Experiment III substituted stress with administration of dexamethasone (DX). Six rats were sacrificed per group per experiment on days 7 and 14 and the right testis was excised and processed for PAS-haematoxylin staining and the left used for Zn determination. Results show significantly lower testicular Zn level as well more intensely immunoexpression of p53 in saline stress and saline DX groups compared with other groups. Also seen are the presence of residual bodies in the seminiferous tubular lumen of saline groups in Experiments II and III suggesting failure of residual bodies to be transported back towards the basement membrane. This study demonstrates that psychological stress impairs the ability of Sertoli cells to recycle residual bodies.

Increased de novo glutathione production enhances sexual dysfunctions in rats subjected to paradoxical sleep deprivation.

OBJECTIVE: Poor quality of sexual life has been reported secondary to poor sleep or sleep deprivation. Paradoxical sleep is an integral part of the sleep-wakefulness physiology and prolonged paradoxical sleep deprivation (PSD) may even be fatal. The objective of this investigation was to determine if D-ribose-L-cysteine (RibCys) and zinc (Zn) administration can attenuate the effect of PSD on the sexual function of male rats. METHODS: Following acclimatization, 25 male rats were randomly distributed into five groups of 5 rats each. The PSD, PSD+RibCys, PSD+Zn, PSD+RibCys+Zn, and Control groups were sleep-deprived only, sleep-deprived and given 100mg/kg body-weight of pure RibCys, sleep-deprived and given 10mg/kg body weight Zn, sleep-deprived and given a combination of 100mg/kg of RibCys and 10mg/kg of Zn, and given distilled water without sleep deprivation, respectively. PSD lasted for 20 hours per day for 14 days. Subsequently, the sexual behavioral study was carried out and the animals were sacrificed for biochemical assays. RESULTS: Analyses of results show that for animals treated with RibCys or Zn, all sexual parameters such as mount frequency and latency, intromission frequency and latency and ejaculation frequency and latency were significantly improved compared with animals subjected to PSD only. This improvement correlates strongly with serum glutathione (GHS) levels. CONCLUSION: In summary, riboceine increases circulating GHS, which leads to improved sexual function during sleep deprivation.

A comparison of the anti-diabetic potential of d-ribose-l-cysteine with insulin, and oral hypoglycaemic agents on pregnant rats.

Over 18% of pregnant women are affected by diabetes mellitus (DM) and Insulin has been the commonest drug used in its treatment. There are reports of noncompliance to insulin due to trypanophobia, with suggestions for the use of oral hypoglycaemic agents (OHAs). However, the opposing views about the benefits and risk of oral hypoglycaemic agents (OHAs) warrant a continuous search for an alternative regimen. Therefore, this study is aimed at comparing the antidiabetic effects of d-ribose-l-cysteine (riboceine) with vildagliptin, glibenclamide, metformin, glipizide and insulin in diabetes in pregnancy. Forty (40) female Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were mated with twenty (20) male SD rats. Diabetes was induced by streptozotocin and the female SD rats were divided into 8 groups of five (5) rats each. The animals were administered either of the OHAs vildagliptin, glibenclamide, metformin, glipizide and riboceine for a period of 19 gestational days. The results showed that streptozotocin (STZ) significantly (p < 0.05) decreased the weights of the animals, increased malondialdehyde, blood glucose levels and altered reproductive hormones. These effects of STZ were better ameliorated in animals that received insulin and riboceine compared to the other OHAs. While progesterone levels were significantly (p < 0.05) higher in animals that received riboceine compared to insulin. Glibenclamide increased (p < 0.05) foetal weights compared to non-diabetic animals. In conclusion, glibenclamide may be a threat to mother`s life in the management of diabetes in pregnancy however, riboceine as well as vildagliptin, metformin and glipizide are effective oral hypoglycaemic agents which could serve as a potent adjuvant comparable to insulin in the management of diabetes during gestation.