Rutin ameliorates perfluorooctanoic acid-induced testicular injury in mice by reducing oxidative stress and improving lipid metabolism

Abstract

This study investigated the protective effect of rutin on reproductive and blood–testis barrier (BTB) damage induced by perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) exposure. In this study, male ICR mice were randomly divided into three groups, Ctrl group (ddH₂O, 5 mL/kg), PFOA group (PFOA, 20 mg/kg/d, 5 mL/kg), PFOA + rutin group (PFOA, 20 mg/kg/d, 5 mL/kg; rutin, 20 mg/kg/d, 5 mL/kg). Mice were exposed to PFOA for 28 days by gavage once daily in the presence or absence of rutin. Histopathological observations demonstrated that rutin treatment during PFOA exposure can reduce structural damage to testis and epididymis such as atrophy of spermatogenic epithelium and stenosis of epididymal lumen, while increase in the number and layers of spermatogenic cells. Biochemical detection demonstrated that rutin can reduce 8-hydroxy-2′-desoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) concentration in the serum and testis tissues. Rutin can also ameliorate glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) content, and reduce malondialdehyde (MDA) and total cholesterol (TC) content in testis tissues. Biotin tracking immunofluorescence and transmission electron microscopy demonstrated that rutin can ameliorate BTB structural damage during PFOA exposure. Rutin ameliorated the stress expression of tight junction proteins occludin and claudin-11. In conclusion, our findings suggested that rutin has a degree of protection in reproductive and BTB damage, which could put forward a new perspective on the application of rutin to prevent reproductive damage.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Rutin
• PFOA
• blood–testis barrier
• oxidative stress
• lipid metabolism

Ethical approval

All authors declared that they had no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that seemed to affect the work reported in this article. All authors followed the ethical responsibilities of this journal.

Consent form

All authors participated and approved the final manuscript to be published.

Author contributions

H L and L W are co-senior authors. H L and L W designed the study; XZ M, XJ R, and XM Z carried out the experimental work and analyzed the results; XZ M, H L, N G, and L W wrote the manuscript. All coauthors have edited the manuscript and approved the final version.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21806002), Key Project of Natural Science Research of Universities in Anhui Province (Grant No. KJ2021A0719), 512 Talent Cultivation Program of Bengbu Medical College (Grant No. by51201303), and Bengbu Medical College Graduate Research and Innovation Plan Program (Byycx21045).