Department of Physiology, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria.
Department of Physiology, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria; Reproductive Biology and Toxicology Research Laboratory, Oasis of Grace Hospital, Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria.
Biomed Pharmacother. 2024 Sep;178:117136. doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2024.117136. Epub 2024 Jul 26.
The continuous use of pesticides, such as dichlorvos, is a common agricultural and domestic practice. However, it is associated with shortfalls like testicular toxicity through the induction of oxidative stress-mediated signaling. On the other hand, L-arginine, a precursor of nitric oxide, has been reported to exert antioxidant activities and thus may attenuate dichlorvos-induced testicular toxicity.
Hence, this study was designed to evaluate the effect of L-arginine treatment on dichlorvos-induced testicular toxicity.
Forty male Wistar rats were randomly assigned into four equal groups. The control rats were administered 0.5 mL of distilled water, dichlorvos- (DDVP-) treated rats were exposed to DDVP via inhalation for 15 min, DDVP + L-arginine-treated rats were exposed to DDVP and also received 100 mg/kg b.w/day, while L-arginine-treated rats received 100 mg/kg b.w/day.
DDVP exposure significantly reduced testicular nitric oxide, relative testicular weight, lowered sperm count, viability, and motility, and suppressed serum FSH, LH, and testosterone levels. These findings were associated with a rise in testicular malondialdehyde, TNF-α, IL-6, and 8OHdG levels and caspase 3 activities, and a reduction in GSH and superoxide dismutase. Additionally, on histopathological examination, DDVP was observed to reduce mature sperm cells in the seminiferous tubular lumen and induce focal vascular congestion in the interstitial space. Nonetheless, L-arginine treatment significantly attenuated DDVP-induced biochemical and histological alterations.
This study showed that L-arginine attenuated testicular toxicity by improving epididymal sperm variables and male sex hormones by suppressing oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis in DDVP-exposed rats.
敌敌畏等杀虫剂的持续使用是一种常见的农业和家庭做法。然而，它与睾丸毒性等缺陷有关，这种毒性是通过诱导氧化应激介导的信号产生的。另一方面，精氨酸是一氧化氮的前体，据报道具有抗氧化活性，因此可能减轻敌敌畏引起的睾丸毒性。
因此，本研究旨在评估精氨酸治疗对敌敌畏诱导的睾丸毒性的影响。
40 只雄性 Wistar 大鼠被随机分为四组。对照组大鼠给予 0.5ml 蒸馏水，敌敌畏（DDVP）处理组大鼠通过吸入暴露于 DDVP 15 分钟，DDVP+精氨酸处理组大鼠暴露于 DDVP 并给予 100mg/kg bw/天，而精氨酸处理组大鼠给予 100mg/kg bw/天。
敌敌畏暴露显著降低了睾丸一氧化氮、相对睾丸重量、精子计数、活力和活力，抑制了血清 FSH、LH 和睾酮水平。这些发现与睾丸丙二醛、TNF-α、IL-6 和 8OHdG 水平和 caspase 3 活性升高以及 GSH 和超氧化物歧化酶减少有关。此外，在组织病理学检查中，观察到 DDVP 减少了精母细胞在生精小管腔中的成熟精子，并在间质中诱导了局灶性血管充血。然而，精氨酸治疗显著减轻了 DDVP 诱导的生化和组织学改变。
本研究表明，精氨酸通过抑制氧化应激、炎症和凋亡，改善附睾精子变量和雄性性激素，减轻 DDVP 暴露大鼠的睾丸毒性。
