Yousef Mokhtar I, El-Morsy Ahmed M A, Hassan Mervat S
Department of Environmental Studies, Institute of Graduate Studies and Research, Alexandria University, 163 Horreya Avenue, P.O. Box. 832, Alexandria 21526, Egypt.
Toxicology. 2005 Nov 5;215(1-2):97-107. doi: 10.1016/j.tox.2005.06.025. Epub 2005 Aug 10.
Aluminium (Al) has been proposed as an environmental factor that may contribute to some diseases, affect several enzymes and other biomolecules and induced free radical-mediated cytotoxicity. Also, Al induced reproductive toxicity and exerted a significant adverse effect on the steroidogenesis. The antioxidant ascorbic acid (AA) plays an important role in various physiological processes in the body including detoxification of different toxic materials. Therefore, the present investigation aimed to elucidate possible protective effects of AA in alleviating the toxicity of aluminium chloride (AlCl3) on reproductive performance, lipid peroxidation and enzyme activities in seminal plasma of male New Zealand white rabbits. Six rabbits per group were assigned to one of four treatment groups: 0 mg AA and 0 mg AlCl3 /kg body weight (BW) (control); 40 mg AA/kg BW; 34 mg AlCl3 /kg BW; 34 mg AlCl3 plus 40 mg AA/kg BW. Rabbits were orally administered their respective doses every other day for 16 weeks. Results obtained showed that AlCl3 significantly (P<0.05) decreased libido (by increasing the reaction time), ejaculate volume, sperm concentration, total sperm output, sperm motility (%), total motile sperm per ejaculate (TMS), packed sperm volume (PSV), total functional sperm fraction (TFSF), normal and live sperm and semen initial fructose. While initial hydrogen ion concentration (pH) and dead and abnormal sperm were increased (P<0.05). Live body weight (LBW), feed intake (FI) and relative weights of testes (RTW) and epididymis (REW) were significantly (P<0.05) decreased. Concentrations of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) were significantly (P<0.05) increased in seminal plasma of rabbits treated with AlCl3 compared with control. While, activities of glutathione S-transferase (GST), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and acid phosphatase (AcP) were significantly (P<0.05) decreased. Ascorbic acid alone significantly increased LBW, FI, RTW, REW, semen characteristics and seminal plasma enzymes, and decreased the levels of free radicals. Also, the present study showed that ascorbic acid might be effective in the protection of aluminium-induced reproductive toxicity. It was suggested that AlCl3 exerted a significant adverse effect on reproductive performance of male rabbits. Furthermore, AA could be able to antagonize the toxic effects of AlCl3 and improved semen quality of male rabbit.
铝（Al）被认为是一种环境因素，可能与某些疾病有关，影响多种酶和其他生物分子，并引发自由基介导的细胞毒性。此外，铝还会导致生殖毒性，并对类固醇生成产生显著的不利影响。抗氧化剂抗坏血酸（AA）在身体的各种生理过程中发挥着重要作用，包括对不同有毒物质的解毒作用。因此，本研究旨在阐明抗坏血酸对减轻氯化铝（AlCl3）对雄性新西兰白兔生殖性能、脂质过氧化和精浆中酶活性毒性的可能保护作用。每组六只兔子被分配到四个处理组之一：0毫克抗坏血酸和0毫克AlCl3/千克体重（BW）（对照组）；40毫克抗坏血酸/千克体重；34毫克AlCl3/千克体重；34毫克AlCl3加40毫克抗坏血酸/千克体重。兔子每隔一天口服各自的剂量，持续16周。获得的结果表明，AlCl3显著（P<0.05）降低了性欲（通过延长反应时间）、射精量、精子浓度、总精子产量、精子活力（%）、每次射精的总活动精子数（TMS）、精子体积（PSV）、总功能性精子比例（TFSF）、正常和活精子以及精液初始果糖含量。而初始氢离子浓度（pH）以及死精子和异常精子数量增加（P<0.05）。活体体重（LBW）、采食量（FI）以及睾丸相对重量（RTW）和附睾相对重量（REW）显著（P<0.05）降低。与对照组相比，请检查输入内容是否准确。AlCl3处理的兔子精浆中硫代巴比妥酸反应性物质（TBARS）的浓度显著（P<0.05）升高。同时，谷胱甘肽S-转移酶（GST）、天冬氨酸氨基转移酶（AST）、丙氨酸氨基转移酶（ALT）和酸性磷酸酶（AcP）的活性显著（P<0.05）降低。单独使用抗坏血酸可显著增加LBW、FI、RTW、REW、精液特征和精浆酶，并降低自由基水平。此外，本研究表明抗坏血酸可能对保护铝诱导的生殖毒性有效。研究表明，AlCl3对雄性兔子的生殖性能产生了显著的不利影响。此外，抗坏血酸能够拮抗AlCl3的毒性作用，并改善雄性兔子的精液质量。
