Wang Jiamin, Zhao Shankun, Luo Lianmin, Liu Yangzhou, Li Ermao, Zhu Zhiguo, Zhao Zhigang
Department of Urology & Andrology, Minimally Invasive Surgery Center, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
Research Laboratory for Clinical & Translational Medicine, Medical School, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, China.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2019 Aug 22;2019:8494567. doi: 10.1155/2019/8494567. eCollection 2019.
To evaluate the therapeutic effect of Shengjing capsules on nonobstructive azoospermia (NOA) in the rat model.
Twenty-five male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into five groups as follows (=5 per group): normal group, NOA group, and three Shengjing capsule treatment groups (low-dose, medium-dose, and high-dose groups, respectively). HE staining and semen smear were performed to assess sperm quality. The expression levels of PI3K/AKT and integrin 6/1 were measured by qRT-PCR and western blot analyses.
In the NOA group, almost all of the seminiferous tubules were vacuolated with a thin layer of basal compartment containing some spermatogonial stem cells. The counts of sperms in the NOA group were strongly lower than those of the normal group (=0.0001). The expression of PI3K/AKT and integrin 6/1 was scarcely expressed in the NOA group. All indexes mentioned above were significantly different from those of the medium- and high-dose groups (=0.001, all). The sperm count of rats treated with Shengjing capsules was significantly higher than that of the NOA group (=0.0001). The rats of Shengjing capsule groups had more layers of spermatogonial stem cells and spermatocytes, and some had intracavitary sperms.
Shengjing capsules may be a promising therapeutic medicine for NOA. The underlying mechanisms might involve activating SSCs by upregulating the integrin 6/1 expression via the PI3K/AKT pathway.
评估生精胶囊对大鼠非梗阻性无精子症（NOA）模型的治疗效果。
将25只雄性Sprague-Dawley大鼠随机分为五组（每组n = 5）：正常组、NOA组和三个生精胶囊治疗组（分别为低剂量、中剂量和高剂量组）。进行HE染色和精液涂片以评估精子质量。通过qRT-PCR和蛋白质免疫印迹分析测量PI3K/AKT和整合素β6/β1的表达水平。
在NOA组中，几乎所有生精小管都有空泡形成，仅基底部有一薄层包含一些精原干细胞。NOA组的精子计数显著低于正常组（P = 0.0001）。NOA组中PI3K/AKT和整合素β6/β1的表达几乎未检测到。上述所有指标在中剂量和高剂量组与NOA组之间均有显著差异（P均< 0.001）。生精胶囊治疗的大鼠精子计数显著高于NOA组（P = 0.0001）。生精胶囊组的大鼠有更多层的精原干细胞和精母细胞，部分大鼠管腔内有精子。
生精胶囊可能是一种有前景的治疗NOA的药物。其潜在机制可能是通过PI3K/AKT途径上调整合素β6/β1的表达来激活精原干细胞。
