Manna Prasenjit, Sinha Mahua, Sil Parames C
Department of Chemistry, Bose Institute, Calcutta, India.
Redox Rep. 2008;13(2):67-77. doi: 10.1179/135100008X259169.
Arsenic-induced tissue damage is a major concern to the human population. An impaired antioxidant defense mechanism followed by oxidative stress is the major cause of arsenic-induced toxicity, which can lead to reproductive failure. The present study was carried out to investigate the preventive role of arjunolic acid, a triterpenoid saponin isolated from the bark of Terminalia arjuna, against arsenic-induced testicular damage in mice. Administration of arsenic (in the form of sodium arsenite, NaAsO(2), at a dose of 10 mg/kg body weight) for 2 days significantly decreased the intracellular antioxidant power, the activities of the antioxidant enzymes, as well as the levels of cellular metabolites. In addition, arsenic intoxication enhanced testicular arsenic content, lipid peroxidation, protein carbonylation and the level of glutathione disulfide (GSSG). Exposure to arsenic also caused significant degeneration of the seminiferous tubules with necrosis and defoliation of spermatocytes. Pretreatment with arjunolic acid at a dose of 20 mg/kg body weight for 4 days could prevent the arsenic-induced testicular oxidative stress and injury to the histological structures of the testes. Arjunolic acid had free radical scavenging activity in a cell-free system and antioxidant power in vivo. In summary, the results suggest that the chemopreventive role of arjunolic acid against arsenic-induced testicular toxicity may be due to its intrinsic antioxidant property.
砷诱导的组织损伤是人类主要关注的问题。抗氧化防御机制受损继而引发氧化应激是砷诱导毒性的主要原因，这可能导致生殖功能衰竭。本研究旨在探讨从诃子树皮中分离出的三萜皂苷——阿朱诺酸对小鼠砷诱导的睾丸损伤的预防作用。以10毫克/千克体重的剂量给予砷（以亚砷酸钠，NaAsO₂形式）2天，显著降低了细胞内抗氧化能力、抗氧化酶活性以及细胞代谢物水平。此外，砷中毒增加了睾丸砷含量、脂质过氧化、蛋白质羰基化以及谷胱甘肽二硫化物（GSSG）水平。接触砷还导致生精小管显著退化，伴有精母细胞坏死和脱落。以20毫克/千克体重的剂量对小鼠进行4天的阿朱诺酸预处理，可以预防砷诱导的睾丸氧化应激以及对睾丸组织结构的损伤。阿朱诺酸在无细胞体系中具有自由基清除活性，在体内具有抗氧化能力。总之，结果表明阿朱诺酸对砷诱导的睾丸毒性的化学预防作用可能归因于其固有的抗氧化特性。
