Higher Institute of Applied Biology (ISBAM) of Medenine, University of Gabés, Medenine, Tunisia.
Laboratory of Functional Neurophysiology and Pathology, Faculty of Science of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia.
J Biomol Struct Dyn. 2022 Jul;40(10):4341-4351. doi: 10.1080/07391102.2020.1856187. Epub 2020 Dec 11.
Methotrexate (MTX) is a chemotherapeutic medicine used in the treatment of several types of cancer and inflammatory diseases. It exhibits several drawbacks especially on highly dividing and developing cells. This study aimed to assess the role of ethanolic extract on testicular damage induced by MTX in rat. MTX was administrated for 10 days (20 mg/kg). Extract of cactus cladodes () was given to MTX-treated rats (0.4 g/kg). Spermatozoa were collected from cauda epididymis and analyzed for sperm count and motility. Testis samples were used for histopathological and oxidative stress studies (assessment of malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, protein carbonyls (PCs), catalase (CAT) glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities). Moreover, levels of testosterone were measured in serum by radioimmunoassay. Our results showed that MTX had destructive effects on sperm count and motility associated with significant decrease in testosterone levels in MTX group. This effect was then confirmed by docking results. Testis of MTX group showed increased oxidative stress status. In fact, PCs and MDA were increased and CAT, GPx and SOD were decreased suggesting increased reactive oxygen species and deficiency in enzymatic antioxidant. These findings were associated with disrupted testicular morphology as assessed by histological study. Cladodes extract had protective effects on rat's gonad histology, oxidative stress and improve both sperm parameters (count and motility) and serum testosterone levels. In conclusion, our results suggested that cladodes extract improved MTX-induced testicular injury and possess potent fertility boosting effects in rats.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
甲氨蝶呤（MTX）是一种用于治疗多种癌症和炎症性疾病的化疗药物。它在高度分裂和发育的细胞中表现出多种缺点。本研究旨在评估仙人掌茎提取物对 MTX 诱导的大鼠睾丸损伤的作用。MTX 连续给药 10 天（20mg/kg）。给 MTX 处理的大鼠给予仙人掌茎提取物（0.4g/kg）。从附睾尾部收集精子并分析精子计数和活力。使用睾丸组织样本进行组织病理学和氧化应激研究（评估丙二醛（MDA）水平、蛋白质羰基（PCs）、过氧化氢酶（CAT）、谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶（GPx）和超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）活性）。此外，通过放射免疫测定法测量血清中的睾酮水平。我们的结果表明，MTX 对精子计数和活力有破坏作用，与 MTX 组睾酮水平显著降低有关。这种作用随后通过对接结果得到证实。MTX 组的睾丸显示氧化应激状态增加。事实上，PCs 和 MDA 增加，CAT、GPx 和 SOD 减少，表明活性氧增加和酶抗氧化剂缺乏。这些发现与组织学研究评估的睾丸形态破坏有关。茎提取物对大鼠性腺组织学、氧化应激具有保护作用，并改善精子参数（计数和活力）和血清睾酮水平。总之，我们的结果表明，茎提取物改善了 MTX 诱导的睾丸损伤，并具有增强大鼠生育能力的作用。
