Evidence of melatonin ameliorative effects on the blood-testis barrier and sperm quality alterations induced by cadmium in the rat testis

Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety

Russel J. Reiter¹  Maria Zelinda Romano²  Massimo Venditti²  Sergio Minucci²  Imed Messaoudi³  Mariem Ben Rhouma³ 

[1] Department of Cell Systems and Anatomy, Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine, UT Health San Antonio, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA;Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale, Sez. Fisiologia Umana e Funzioni Biologiche Integrate “F. Bottazzi”, Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, via Costantinopoli, 16, 80138 Napoli, NA, Italy;Laboratoire LR11ES41 Génétique Biodiversité et Valorisation des Bio-ressourcés, Institut Supérieur de Biotechnologie de Monastir, Université de Monastir, Rue Taher Haddad, 5000 Monastir, Tunisia;

关键词: Melatonin;    Endocrine disrupters;    Cadmium;    Testis;    Blood-testis barrier;    Autophagy;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Herein, we further document the protective action of melatonin (MLT) in mitigating cadmium (Cd) effects on adult rat testis. Cd treatment provoked testicular injury, that was documented by histological and biomolecular alterations, i.e., decrease of serum and testicular testosterone concentration and modified sperm parameters. Mainly, both the cytoarchitecture of the blood-testis barrier (BTB) and germ cell morphology were perturbed, as highlighted by impairment in structural (OCN, VANGL, Cx43) and regulative (Src and FAK) protein levels and/or activation. The study focused on the involvement of the autophagy pathway, that was enhanced especially in the Sertoli cells, probably in response to the disorganization of the BTB. Results obtained with the MLT co-treatment demonstrated that its administration decreased the level of oxidative damage caused by Cd, with reversal of all the observed changes. Moreover, the beneficial effects of MLT alone were evidenced by an increase of sperm quality, in term of motility and DNA integrity. The combined results, obtained in rat, strongly encourage to consider a role for MLT in improving also human testicular health, not only in men exposed to Cd, but also in those having fertility disorders, to ameliorate sperm quality and, consequently, reproductive success.

【 授权许可】

Unknown