Mohammadghasemi Fahimeh, Jahromi Sina Khajeh, Hajizadeh Hadi, Homafar Mohammad Amin, Saadat Nazanin
Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran.
J Reprod Infertil. 2012 Jul;13(3):143-50.
Nicotine exposure causes impaired fertility and ovarian dysfunction. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible protective role of melatonin, which is known as an antioxidant agent on altered ovarian functions upon nicotine exposure.
A total of 32 female adult NMRI mice were divided randomly into four groups (n = 8). The control group received vehicle, while group 2 received nicotine (40 µg/kg) for 15 days and group 3 melatonin (10 mg/kg) for 5 days. Group 4 received both nicotine (40 µg/kg) and melatonin (10 mg/kg) for the same periods. All animals were treated intraperitoneally. After autopsy on the 16th day, histopathological and morphometrical examinations were performed and serum estradiol concentrations were measured. The data were analyzed using ANOVA and Tukey post hoc test. A value of p < 0.05 was considered significant.
Nicotine significantly reduced the number of pre-antral and antral follicles, as well as estradiol concentration compared to the control group (p < 0.05). However, the decrease in the number of primordial follicles was not significant in the nicotine treated group. A significant increase in the atretic follicles were observed in group 2 compared to the control group (p < 0.05). Moreover, melatonin caused a marked normalization in the number of ovarian follicles and estradiol levels in group 4 compared to group 2.
The results from this study suggest that melatonin may have a protective effect against nicotine-induced ovarian changes on the number of different stages of follicle growth.
尼古丁暴露会导致生育能力受损和卵巢功能障碍。本研究的目的是探讨褪黑素（一种已知的抗氧化剂）对尼古丁暴露后卵巢功能改变可能具有的保护作用。
总共32只成年雌性NMRI小鼠被随机分为四组（每组n = 8）。对照组接受赋形剂，第2组接受尼古丁（40μg/kg），持续15天，第3组接受褪黑素（10mg/kg），持续5天。第4组在相同时间段内同时接受尼古丁（40μg/kg）和褪黑素（10mg/kg）。所有动物均通过腹腔注射给药。在第16天进行尸检后，进行组织病理学和形态计量学检查，并测量血清雌二醇浓度。数据采用方差分析和Tukey事后检验进行分析。p < 0.05的值被认为具有统计学意义。
与对照组相比，尼古丁显著减少了窦前卵泡和窦卵泡的数量以及雌二醇浓度（p < 0.05）。然而，在尼古丁处理组中，原始卵泡数量的减少并不显著。与对照组相比，第2组中闭锁卵泡数量显著增加（p < 0.05）。此外，与第2组相比，褪黑素使第4组的卵巢卵泡数量和雌二醇水平显著恢复正常。
本研究结果表明，褪黑素可能对尼古丁诱导的卵泡生长不同阶段数量的卵巢变化具有保护作用。
