Karna Keshab Kumar, Choi Na Young, Kim Chul Young, Kim Hye Kyung, Shin Yu Seob, Park Jong Kwan
Department of Urology, Institute for Medical Sciences, Jeonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju 54907, Korea.
Biomedical Research Institute and Clinical Trial Center for Medical Device, Jeonbuk National University Hospital, Jeonju 54907, Korea.
Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Dec 3;21(23):9231. doi: 10.3390/ijms21239231.
Gui-A-Gra, a commercial insect powder from , is registered as an edible insect by the Korean food and drug administration. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Gui-A-Gra on testicular damage induced by experimental left varicocele in male Sprague Dawley rats. A total of 72 rats were randomly divided into the following six groups (12 rats in each group): a normal control group (CTR), a group administrated with Gui-A-Gra 1.63 gm/kg (G1.63), a group administrated with Gui-A-Gra 6.5 gm/kg (G6.5), a varicocele (VC)-induced control group (VC), a VC-induced group administrated with Gui-A-Gra 1.63 gm/kg (VC + G1.63), and a VC-induced group administrated with Gui-A-Gra 6.5 gm/kg (VC + G6.5). Rats were administrated 1.63 or 6.5 gm/kg Gui-A-Gra once daily for 42 days. Indicators of sperm parameters, histopathology, reproductive hormones, oxidative stress, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, inflammation, and mitochondrial apoptosis were analyzed to evaluate effects of Gui-A-Gra on VC-induced testicular dysfunction. Gui-A-Gra administration to VC-induced rats significantly ( < 0.05) increased sperm count and sperm motility, Johnsen score, spermatogenic cell density, serum testosterone, testicular superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase, GPx4, and steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR) level. Moreover, pretreatment with Gui-A-Gra significantly ( < 0.05) decreased terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) positive cells/tubules, serum luteinizing hormone (LH), serum follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), testicular tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), malondialdehyde (MDA), reactive oxygen species (ROS)/reactive nitrogen species (RNS) level, glucose-regulated protein-78 (Grp-78), phosphorylated c-Jun-N-terminal kinase (p-JNK), phosphorylated inositol-requiring transmembrane kinase/endoribonuclease 1α (p-IRE1α), cleaved caspase-3, and BCL2 associated X protein: B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bax: Bcl2) ratio in VC rats. These results suggest that protective effects of Gui-A-Gra on VC-induced testicular injury might be due to its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and androgenic activities that might be mediated via crosstalk of oxidative stress, ER stress, and mitochondrial apoptosis pathway.
桂阿格拉（Gui-A-Gra）是一种来自[产地未提及]的商用昆虫粉，被韩国食品药品管理局注册为可食用昆虫。本研究的目的是调查桂阿格拉对雄性斯普拉格-道利大鼠实验性左侧精索静脉曲张诱导的睾丸损伤的影响。总共72只大鼠被随机分为以下六组（每组12只）：正常对照组（CTR）、给予1.63克/千克桂阿格拉的组（G1.63）、给予6.5克/千克桂阿格拉的组（G6.5）、精索静脉曲张（VC）诱导对照组（VC）、给予1.63克/千克桂阿格拉的VC诱导组（VC + G1.63）以及给予6.5克/千克桂阿格拉的VC诱导组（VC + G6.5）。大鼠每天给予1.63或6.5克/千克桂阿格拉，持续42天。分析精子参数、组织病理学、生殖激素、氧化应激、内质网（ER）应激、炎症和线粒体凋亡的指标，以评估桂阿格拉对VC诱导的睾丸功能障碍的影响。对VC诱导的大鼠给予桂阿格拉显著（P < 0.05）增加了精子数量和精子活力、约翰森评分、生精细胞密度、血清睾酮、睾丸超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）、谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶（GPx）、过氧化氢酶、GPx4和类固醇生成急性调节蛋白（StAR）水平。此外，用桂阿格拉预处理显著（P < 0.05）降低了末端脱氧核苷酸转移酶介导的dUTP缺口末端标记（TUNEL）阳性细胞/小管、血清促黄体生成素（LH）、血清促卵泡生成素（FSH）、睾丸肿瘤坏死因子-α（TNF-α）、白细胞介素-6（IL-6）、丙二醛（MDA）、活性氧（ROS）/活性氮（RNS）水平、葡萄糖调节蛋白-78（Grp-78）、磷酸化c-Jun氨基末端激酶（p-JNK）、磷酸化肌醇需求跨膜激酶/核糖核酸内切酶1α（p-IRE1α）、裂解的半胱天冬酶-3以及VC大鼠中BCL2相关X蛋白与B细胞淋巴瘤2（Bax: Bcl2）比值。这些结果表明，桂阿格拉对VC诱导的睾丸损伤的保护作用可能归因于其抗氧化、抗炎和雄激素活性，这些活性可能通过氧化应激、ER应激和线粒体凋亡途径的相互作用介导。
