Department of Biochemistry, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram 695 581, Kerala, India.
Br J Nutr. 2013 Aug;110(4):689-98. doi: 10.1017/S0007114512005739. Epub 2013 Jan 21.
The present study was undertaken to elucidate the effect of ascorbic acid on alcohol-induced reproductive toxicity and also to compare it with that of abstention. A total of thirty-six male guinea pigs were divided into two groups and were maintained for 90 d as control and ethanol-treated groups (4 g/kg body weight (b.wt.)). After 90 d, ethanol administration was stopped and animals in the control group were divided into two groups and then maintained for 30 d as the control and control+ascorbic acid groups and those in the ethanol-treated group as ethanol abstention and ethanol+ascorbic acid (25 mg/100 g b. wt.) groups. Animals treated with ethanol showed a significant decline in sperm quality (P<0·001), decreased activity of steroidogenic enzymes (P<0·05) and reduced serum testosterone (P<0·05), luteinising hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone levels, decrease in the activity of testicular succinate dehydrogenase, adenosine triphosphatase, sorbitol dehydrogenase and reduction in fructose content (P<0·05). It also caused an increase in testicular malondialdehyde levels (P<0·05) and decrease in the levels of glutathione content (P<0·001) of testes. Ascorbic acid levels in testes and plasma were also reduced (P<0·001) in ethanol-fed animals. Ascorbic acid supplementation altered all these parameters and produced a better and faster recovery from alcohol-induced reproductive toxicity than abstention. The mechanism of action of ascorbic acid may be by reducing the oxidative stress and improving antioxidant status, which eventually changed the microenvironment of testes and enhanced the energy needed for motility of sperms, improved the sperm morphology and elevated the testosterone and gonadotropin levels.
本研究旨在阐明抗坏血酸对酒精引起的生殖毒性的影响，并将其与戒酒进行比较。将 36 只雄性豚鼠分为两组，分别维持 90 天作为对照组和乙醇处理组（4 g/kg 体重（b.wt.））。90 天后，停止乙醇给药，对照组动物再分为两组，分别维持 30 天作为对照组和对照组+抗坏血酸组，乙醇处理组动物作为乙醇戒酒和乙醇+抗坏血酸（25 mg/100 g b.wt.）组。用乙醇处理的动物表现出精子质量显著下降（P<0·001），类固醇生成酶活性降低（P<0·05），血清睾酮（P<0·05）、黄体生成素和卵泡刺激素水平降低，睾丸琥珀酸脱氢酶、三磷酸腺苷、山梨醇脱氢酶活性降低，果糖含量降低（P<0·05）。它还导致睾丸丙二醛水平升高（P<0·05）和睾丸谷胱甘肽含量降低（P<0·001）。乙醇喂养动物的睾丸和血浆中的抗坏血酸水平也降低（P<0·001）。抗坏血酸补充改变了所有这些参数，并比戒酒产生了更好和更快的酒精引起的生殖毒性恢复。抗坏血酸的作用机制可能是通过降低氧化应激和改善抗氧化状态，最终改变睾丸的微环境，增强精子运动所需的能量，改善精子形态，提高睾酮和促性腺激素水平。
