Dorostghoal Mehran, Seyyednejad Seyyed Mansour, Nejad Marzieh Noroozi Tabrizi
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran.
Biotechnology and Bioscience Research Center, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran.
Clin Exp Reprod Med. 2020 Sep;47(3):161-167. doi: 10.5653/cerm.2019.03496. Epub 2020 Aug 31.
Oxidative stress has been suggested as a possible mechanism for the adverse effects of heavy metal toxicity on male reproduction. Cichorium intybus L. is used in Iranian folk medicine as a hepatoprotective agent as well as for its supposed fertility-enhancing properties. The present study was performed to investigate whether the ethanolic extract of C. intybus leaves could protect male rats against lead-induced testicular oxidative stress.
In this experimental study, adult Wistar rats were treated with 0.1% lead acetate in drinking water alone or with 50, 100, or 200 mg/ kg body weight of C. intybus extract via gavage once daily for 70 days. The weight of their reproductive organs, levels of serum hormones, histometric parameters of the seminiferous tubules, epidydimal sperm quality, and oxidative stress status were evaluated.
The testis weight, seminiferous tubule diameter, epididymal sperm count, serum testosterone level, and testicular levels of superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase were significantly reduced (p<0.05) in the lead-treated rats. Moreover, significantly (p<0.05) higher levels of malondialdehyde were observed in the lead-exposed group compared to the control. However, the co-administration of C. intybus ethanolic extract in lead-treated rats was associated with a significant improvement in reproductive parameters.
We conclude that C. intybus leaf extract has the potential to prevent lead-induced testicular toxicity and to suppress the adverse effects of lead on male reproductive health.
氧化应激被认为是重金属毒性对雄性生殖产生不良影响的一种可能机制。菊苣在伊朗民间医学中被用作保肝剂，也因其所谓的增强生育能力的特性而被使用。本研究旨在调查菊苣叶乙醇提取物是否能保护雄性大鼠免受铅诱导的睾丸氧化应激。
在本实验研究中，成年Wistar大鼠单独饮用含0.1%醋酸铅的水，或每天经口灌胃给予50、100或200mg/kg体重的菊苣提取物，持续70天。评估其生殖器官重量、血清激素水平、生精小管的组织计量学参数、附睾精子质量和氧化应激状态。
铅处理组大鼠的睾丸重量、生精小管直径、附睾精子计数、血清睾酮水平以及睾丸中超氧化物歧化酶和谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶水平均显著降低（p<0.05）。此外，与对照组相比，铅暴露组丙二醛水平显著升高（p<0.05）。然而，在铅处理的大鼠中同时给予菊苣乙醇提取物可使生殖参数得到显著改善。
我们得出结论，菊苣叶提取物有潜力预防铅诱导的睾丸毒性，并抑制铅对雄性生殖健康的不良影响。
