School of Natural Medicine, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X17, Bellville 7535, South Africa.
Department of Medical Biosciences, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X17, Bellville 7535, South Africa.
Biomed Pharmacother. 2021 Jan;133:111085. doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2020.111085. Epub 2020 Dec 8.
Obesity is a significant global health and socio-economic challenge, and considered an important risk factor for poor health outcomes including male reproductive dysfunction and infertility. As excess adiposity causes testicular dysfunction and infertility, novel therapeutic strategies require investigation. Nigella sativa (Ns) seed oil and metformin have both demonstrated a potential positive effect on obesity, although both remain poorly investigated in male fertility. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the effect of Ns oil and metformin on total body weight (TBW), mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), serum testosterone and semen parameters in an obese animal model. Wistar rats (n = 54) were divided into six groups: normal chow (NC), high sugar diet (HSD) only, HSD and saline, HSD and metformin (75 mg/Kg/day), HSD and Ns (200 mg/Kg/day) (NS200), HSD and Ns (400 mg/Kg/day) (NS400). Intervention was force fed for the last 8 weeks of the 14 weeks dietary exposures. Results showed that the HSD increased TBW (P = 0.001) and reduced sperm concentration (P = 0.013) and progressive motility (P = 0.009) compared to the NC group. Metformin, NS200 and NS400 improved TBW (P = 0.035, P = 0.006 and P = 0.005, respectively) and testosterone (P < 0.001) compared to the HSD saline group, where metformin and NS400 improved sperm concentration (P < 0.001 and P = 0.049, respectively) and MMP (P < 0.001). There were no changes in sperm motility and viability for all experimental exposures, although NS400 (P = 0.047) negatively affected sperm viability. Metformin and Ns may be novel treatment options in obesity-induced infertility, although a potential negative impact on viability is cautioned for high dose Ns. These results warrant further investigation of Ns and Metformin for the management of obese infertile males.
肥胖是一个全球性的健康和社会经济挑战，被认为是不良健康结果的一个重要危险因素，包括男性生殖功能障碍和不育。由于过多的脂肪会导致睾丸功能障碍和不育，因此需要研究新的治疗策略。黑种草籽油和二甲双胍都已被证明对肥胖有潜在的积极影响，尽管它们在男性生育力方面的研究仍很不足。因此，本研究旨在确定黑种草籽油和二甲双胍对肥胖动物模型的总体体重（TBW）、线粒体膜电位（MMP）、血清睾酮和精液参数的影响。Wistar 大鼠（n = 54）分为六组：正常饲料（NC）、高糖饮食（HSD）、HSD 生理盐水、HSD 二甲双胍（75mg/Kg/天）、HSD 黑种草籽油（200mg/Kg/天）（NS200）、HSD 黑种草籽油（400mg/Kg/天）（NS400）。干预措施在 14 周饮食暴露的最后 8 周内强制喂养。结果显示，与 NC 组相比，HSD 组增加了 TBW（P = 0.001），降低了精子浓度（P = 0.013）和前向运动精子比例（P = 0.009）。与 HSD 生理盐水组相比，二甲双胍、NS200 和 NS400 改善了 TBW（P = 0.035，P = 0.006 和 P = 0.005）和睾酮（P < 0.001），而二甲双胍和 NS400 改善了精子浓度（P < 0.001 和 P = 0.049）和 MMP（P < 0.001）。所有实验暴露均未改变精子运动和活力，尽管 NS400（P = 0.047）对精子活力有负面影响。二甲双胍和黑种草籽油可能是肥胖引起的不育症的新治疗选择，但高剂量黑种草籽油可能对活力有潜在的负面影响，需要进一步研究。这些结果表明，黑种草籽油和二甲双胍值得进一步研究，以用于管理肥胖不育男性。
