Protective effect of astragaloside IV on cadmium-induced spermatogenesis microenvironment damage in rats

ABSTRACT

The previous study using Sertoli cells cultured in vitro has shown that the protective effects of astragaloside IV (AsIV) on cadmium (Cd)-induced damage to Sertoli cells and its membrane proteins. Yet, it is not known if AsIV has an equivalent effect on Cd-induced damage to the spermatogenesis microenvironment in rats. Using an in vivo model, Cd-induced damage to the spermatogenesis microenvironment and the protective effects of AsIV were studied. Eighteen male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into three groups (n = 6/group): Cd group, Cd&AsIV group, and control group. Cd was administered to the rats in the Cd group via i.p. at 1 mg/kg body weight once daily, Cd and AsIV was administered to the rats in the Cd&AsIV group via i.p. at 1 mg/kg body weight and 10 mg/kg body weight respectively once daily, and the same volume of saline was administered to the rats in control group via i.p. once daily. The rats in the three groups were injected continuously for 5 days. Vesicular formation in the seminiferous tubules was observed in the Cd treatment group. The average optical density of claudin-11, zonal occludin-1 (ZO-1), and connexin 43 (Cx43) decreased significantly in the Cd treatment group. The ultrastructural damage of the Sertoli cells and tight junctions were also observed by electron microscopy. AsIV treatment rescued the morphologic changes of the seminiferous tubules of the testis and the ultrastructural damage of the Sertoli cells and tight junctions. The average optical density of claudin-11, ZO-1, and Cx43 also increased significantly after AsIV treatment. Cd damages the spermatogenesis microenvironment in rats, which can be rescued by AsIV treatment. These results illustrate that AsIV may also have a protective effect on Cd-induced damage to the spermatogenesis microenvironment in rats.

Abbreviations: AsIV: astragaloside IV; Cd: cadmium; SD: Sprague Dawley; ZO-1: zonal occludin-1; Cx43: connexin 43; BTB: blood-testis barrier; MAPKs: mitogen-activated protein kinases; OSP: oligodendrocyte-specific protein; Cxs: connexins; GJIC: gap junctional intercellular communication; ROS: reactive oxygen species; MDA: malondialdehyde; TGF: tumor growth factor; PBS: phosphate buffer saline; BSA: bovine serum albumin

KEYWORDS:

• Cadmium
• astragaloside IV
• seminiferous tubule
• ultrastructure
• junction proteins

Ethics approval

All experimental procedures were approved by the Research Council and Animal Care and Use Committee of Army Medical University, Chongqing, China (approval no. SYXK20070002) and were performed in accordance with the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals published by National Institutes of Health.

Authors’ contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: ZXY, SHY; performed the experiments and analyzed the data: WN, XYD, YCW, XLY; drafted the manuscript: WN; contributed reagents, materials and laboratory environment: JX; completes electron microscopic detection: XGL. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Data availability statement

All the data supporting your findings is contained within the manuscript. The datasets used and/or analyzed in the current study is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Additional information

Funding

Current work was partly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [81873628] and partly by the Interdisciplinary and international cooperation projects of Army Medical University [2018XLC3033].