Department of Anesthesiology, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, 218 Ziqiang St., Changchun, Jilin 130041, China.
Department of Cardiology, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, 218 Ziqiang St., Changchun, Jilin 130041, China.
Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2017;2017:3172692. doi: 10.1155/2017/3172692. Epub 2017 Jun 18.
Activation of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2) has been found to ameliorate diabetic testicular damage (DTD) in rodents. However, it was unclear whether NRF2 is required for these approaches in DTD. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is a potent activator of NRF2 and has shown beneficial effects on multiple diabetic complications. However, the effect of EGCG has not been studied in DTD. The present study aims to explore the role of NRF2 in both self and EGCG protection against DTD. Therefore, streptozotocin-induced diabetic C57BL/6 wild type (WT) and knockout (KO) mice were treated in the presence or absence of EGCG, for 24 weeks. The KO mice exhibited more significant diabetes-induced loss in testicular weight and spermatozoa count, and increase in testicular apoptotic cell death, as compared with the WT mice. EGCG activated NRF2 expression and function, preserved testicular weight and spermatozoa count, and attenuated testicular apoptotic cell death, endoplasmic reticulum stress, inflammation, and oxidative damage in the WT diabetic mice, but not the KO diabetic mice. The present study demonstrated for the first time that NRF2 plays a critical role in both self and EGCG protection against DTD.
核因子红细胞 2 相关因子 2（NRF2）的激活已被发现可改善啮齿动物的糖尿病睾丸损伤（DTD）。然而，目前尚不清楚 NRF2 是否是这些 DTD 治疗方法所必需的。表没食子儿茶素没食子酸酯（EGCG）是 NRF2 的有效激活剂，对多种糖尿病并发症具有有益作用。然而，EGCG 在 DTD 中的作用尚未得到研究。本研究旨在探讨 NRF2 在自身和 EGCG 对 DTD 的保护作用中的作用。因此，用链脲佐菌素诱导糖尿病 C57BL/6 野生型（WT）和敲除（KO）小鼠，在有或没有 EGCG 的情况下，治疗 24 周。与 WT 小鼠相比，KO 小鼠表现出更明显的糖尿病诱导的睾丸重量和精子计数丧失，以及睾丸细胞凋亡增加。EGCG 激活了 WT 糖尿病小鼠的 NRF2 表达和功能，保留了睾丸重量和精子计数，并减轻了睾丸细胞凋亡、内质网应激、炎症和氧化损伤，但对 KO 糖尿病小鼠没有作用。本研究首次证明，NRF2 在自身和 EGCG 对 DTD 的保护作用中都起着关键作用。
