Huang Zhan-Sen, Xiao Heng-Jun, Qi Tao, Hu Zhi-Ming, Li Hao, Chen Di-Ling, Xu Ya-Lin, Chen Jun
Departerment of Infertility and Sexual Medicine, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510631, China.
Department of Urology, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510631, China.
J Huazhong Univ Sci Technolog Med Sci. 2014 Oct;34(5):755-760. doi: 10.1007/s11596-014-1348-3. Epub 2014 Oct 16.
Oxidative stress is implicated in male infertility and significantly higher reactive oxygen species are detected in 25% of infertile males. Although different agents of various alternative medicines, including traditional Chinese medicine, have been tried with varying success, evidence remains limited on whether and how much herbs or supplements might help increase the anti-oxidant ability of the sperm. This study examined the anti-oxidative effects of icariin, a flavonoid isolated from Herba Epimedii, on the human sperm. We prepared the FeSO4/H2O2-damaged human sperms, which were co-cultured with icariin in vitro, and then observed the changes of the sperm by employing Raman micro-spectroscopy. The results showed that Raman mapping with a 514 nm excitation laser allowed clear differentiation of the nucleus, neck, and, in particular, the mitochondria-rich middle piece of a human sperm cell. The effect of icariin on different organelles of the sperm was quantified by localized spectral Raman signatures obtained within milli-seconds, and icariin could keep the "Raman fingerprint" of the human sperm the same as the control groups, suggesting that icariin could protect the human sperm from being damaged by FeSO4/H2O2. Icariin may serve as a tonifying and replenishing agent of herbal origin for enhancing reproductive functions.
氧化应激与男性不育有关，在25%的不育男性中检测到活性氧水平显著升高。尽管包括中药在内的各种替代药物的不同制剂都曾尝试过，且取得了不同程度的成功，但关于草药或补充剂是否以及能在多大程度上帮助提高精子的抗氧化能力，证据仍然有限。本研究考察了从淫羊藿中分离出的黄酮类化合物淫羊藿苷对人类精子的抗氧化作用。我们制备了经硫酸亚铁/过氧化氢损伤的人类精子，将其与淫羊藿苷在体外共同培养，然后采用拉曼显微光谱观察精子的变化。结果表明，用514 nm激发激光进行拉曼映射能够清晰区分人类精子细胞的细胞核、颈部，特别是富含线粒体的中段。通过在数毫秒内获得的局部光谱拉曼特征对淫羊藿苷对精子不同细胞器的作用进行了量化，淫羊藿苷能够使人类精子的“拉曼指纹”与对照组保持一致，这表明淫羊藿苷可以保护人类精子免受硫酸亚铁/过氧化氢的损伤。淫羊藿苷可能作为一种源于草药的滋补剂来增强生殖功能。
