Siervo Glaucia E M L, Vieira Henrique R, Ogo Fernanda M, Fernandez Carla D B, Gonçalves Géssica D, Mesquita Suzana F P, Anselmo-Franci Janete Ap, Cecchini Rubens, Guarnier Flavia A, Fernandes Glaura S A
Department of General Biology, Biological Sciences Center, State University of Londrina - UEL, Londrina, Paraná, Brazil; Department of General Pathology, Biological Sciences Center, State University of Londrina - UEL, Londrina, Paraná, Brazil.
Department of General Biology, Biological Sciences Center, State University of Londrina - UEL, Londrina, Paraná, Brazil.
Toxicology. 2015 Apr 1;330:1-8. doi: 10.1016/j.tox.2015.01.016. Epub 2015 Jan 28.
Chronic consumption of ethanol causes morphological and physiological changes in the reproductive system of mammals. Vitamin C has an antioxidant role in organisms by neutralizing the ROS (reactive oxygen species) produced by oxidizing agents and this vitamin has an important function in the male reproductive system. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether vitamin C could prevent or attenuate the alterations in the male reproductive system caused by ethanol consumption. To test this hypothesis, male rats were divided into three experimental groups and treated by gavage for 63 days. The ethanol (E) and ethanol+vitamin C (EC) groups received 2 g/kg of ethanol (25%v/v) daily. In addition to ethanol, the EC group received vitamin C at a dose of 100 mg/day, diluted in water. The control group (C) received only the vehicle. On the 64th experimental day, the animals were anesthetized and euthanized, and blood was collected for plasmatic hormonal analysis. The testis, epididymis, vas deferens, and seminal vesicles were removed and weighed. Sperm from the vas deferens was submitted to morphological and motility analysis. The testis and epididymis were used for oxidative stress and histopathological analysis, sperm count, morphometric analysis of the testis, and stereological analysis of the epididymis. The results showed that vitamin C has a protective effect in the testes of adult male rats, entirely normalizing the parameters of sperm count, spermatogenesis kinetics, lipid peroxidation levels, and sperm motility, as well as partially normalizing the histopathological damage in the testis, epididymis, and sperm morphology. Thus, we concluded that lipid peroxidation is a major mechanism by which ethanol affects the testes and sperm, whereas no plasmatic testosterone alterations were found.
长期摄入乙醇会导致哺乳动物生殖系统发生形态和生理变化。维生素C在生物体中具有抗氧化作用，可中和氧化剂产生的活性氧（ROS），且该维生素在雄性生殖系统中具有重要功能。本研究的目的是评估维生素C是否能预防或减轻乙醇摄入对雄性生殖系统造成的改变。为验证这一假设，将雄性大鼠分为三个实验组，通过灌胃处理63天。乙醇（E）组和乙醇+维生素C（EC）组每天接受2 g/kg乙醇（25%v/v）。除乙醇外，EC组还接受以水稀释的100 mg/天剂量的维生素C。对照组（C）仅接受赋形剂。在实验第64天，将动物麻醉并处死，采集血液进行血浆激素分析。取出睾丸、附睾、输精管和精囊并称重。对输精管中的精子进行形态和活力分析。睾丸和附睾用于氧化应激和组织病理学分析、精子计数、睾丸形态计量分析以及附睾的体视学分析。结果表明，维生素C对成年雄性大鼠的睾丸具有保护作用，能使精子计数、精子发生动力学、脂质过氧化水平和精子活力参数完全恢复正常，同时使睾丸、附睾的组织病理学损伤以及精子形态部分恢复正常。因此，我们得出结论，脂质过氧化是乙醇影响睾丸和精子的主要机制，而未发现血浆睾酮有改变。
