Center for Reproductive Medicine, Affiliated Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu, China.
Nantong Institute of Genetics and Reproductive Medicine, Affiliated Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu, China.
PeerJ. 2024 Jul 5;12:e17691. doi: 10.7717/peerj.17691. eCollection 2024.
Oligospermia is one of the most common reasons for male infertility which is troubling numerous couples of child-bearing age. This investigation scrutinizes the implications and mechanistic underpinnings of ursolic acid's effect on busulfan-induced oligospermia in mouse models.
A singular intraperitoneal injection of busulfan at a dosage of 30 mg/kg induced oligospermia. Two weeks subsequent to this induction, mice were subjected to various dosages of ursolic acid (10, 30, and 50 mg/kg body weight, respectively) on a daily basis for four consecutive weeks. Following this treatment period, a meticulous analysis of epididymal sperm parameters, encompassing concentration and motility, was conducted using a computer-assisted sperm analysis system. The histopathology of the mice testes was performed utilizing hematoxylin and eosin staining, and the cytoskeleton regeneration of the testicular tissues was analyzed immunofluorescent staining. Serum hormone levels, including testosterone, luteinizing hormone, and follicle-stimulating hormone, as well as reactive oxygen species levels (inclusive of reactive oxygen species and malondialdehyde), were gauged employing specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. Differentially expressed genes of testicular mRNA between the oligospermia-induced group and the various ursolic acid treatment groups were identified through RNA sequencing analysis.
The results revealed that a dosage of 50 mg/kg ursolic acid treatment could increase the concentration of epididymal sperm in oligospermia mice, promote the recovery of testicular morphology, regulate hormone levels and ameliorate oxidative damage. The mechanism research results indicated that ursolic acid increased the expression level of genes related to motor proteins in oligospermia mice.
少精子症是男性不育最常见的原因之一，困扰着众多育龄夫妇。本研究探讨了熊果酸对布硫磷诱导的少精子症小鼠模型的影响及其机制。
单次腹腔注射布硫磷 30mg/kg 诱导少精子症。诱导 2 周后，小鼠分别给予不同剂量的熊果酸（10、30 和 50mg/kg 体重），每天连续 4 周。治疗结束后，采用计算机辅助精子分析系统对附睾精子浓度和活力等参数进行详细分析。采用苏木精-伊红染色法对小鼠睾丸组织进行组织病理学检查，采用免疫荧光染色法分析睾丸组织细胞骨架再生情况。采用特定的酶联免疫吸附试验试剂盒检测血清激素水平，包括睾酮、促黄体生成素和卵泡刺激素，以及活性氧水平（包括活性氧和丙二醛）。通过 RNA 测序分析鉴定少精子症诱导组和不同熊果酸处理组睾丸 mRNA 中差异表达的基因。
结果表明，熊果酸 50mg/kg 剂量可增加少精子症小鼠附睾精子浓度，促进睾丸形态恢复，调节激素水平，改善氧化损伤。机制研究结果表明，熊果酸增加了少精子症小鼠与运动蛋白相关基因的表达水平。
