Izatus Shima Taib

Fenitrothion induced oxidative stress and morphological alterations of sperm and testes in male sprague-dawley rats

OBJECTIVE: Fenitrothion residue is found primarily in soil, water and food products and can lead to a variety of toxic effects on the immune, hepatobiliary and hematological systems. However, the effects of fenitrothion on the male reproductive system remain unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of fenitrothion on the sperm and testes of male Sprague-Dawley rats. METHODS: A 20 mg/kg dose of fenitrothion was administered orally by gavages for 28 consecutive days. Blood sample was obtained by cardiac puncture and dissection of the testes and cauda epididymis was performed to obtain sperm. The effects of fenitrothion on the body and organ weight, biochemical and oxidative stress, sperm characteristics, histology and ultrastructural changes in the testes were evaluated. RESULTS: Fenitrothion significantly decreased the body weight gain and weight of the epididymis compared with the control group. Fenitrothion also decreased plasma cholinesterase activity compared with the control group. Fenitrothion altered the sperm characteristics, such as sperm concentration, sperm viability and normal sperm morphology, compared with the control group. Oxidative stress markers, such as malondialdehyde, protein carbonyl, total glutathione and glutathione S-transferase, were significantly increased and superoxide dismutase activity was significantly decreased in the fenitrothion-treated group compared with the control group. The histopathological and ultrastructural examination of the testes of the fenitrothion-treated group revealed alterations corresponding with the biochemical changes compared with the control group. CONCLUSION: A 20 mg/kg dose of fenitrothion caused deleterious effects on the sperm and testes of Sprague-Dawley rats.

Antioxidant activity of tocotrienol rich fraction prevents fenitrothion-induced renal damage in rats

Fenitrothion (FNT) is an organophosphate compound widely used as pesticide in Malaysia. The present study aims to investigate effects of palm oil tocotrienol rich fraction (TRF) on the renal damage of FNT-treated rats. A total of 40 male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into 4 groups randomly, the control, TRF, FNT and FNT+TRF groups. FNT (20 mg/kg b.w.) and TRF (200 mg/kg b.w.) were given orally for 28 days continuously. Rats from the FNT+TRF group were supplemented with TRF 30 minutes prior to administration of FNT. Rats were sacrificed after 28 days, and the kidneys were removed for determination of oxidative stress and histological analysis. Plasma was collected for determination of blood creatinine and urea level. Statistical analysis showed that palm oil TRF has a protective effect against renal oxidative damage induced by FNT. In the FNT+TRF group, malondialdehyde and protein carbonyl levels were significantly lower, while the glutathione level as well as superoxide dismutase and catalase activities were significantly higher compared with the FNT-treated group (p<0.05). As for renal function, there was a markedly lower urea level (p<0.05) in the FNT+TRF group compared with the FNT-treated group, but there was no significant difference in creatinine level. Besides, total protein also showed no significant difference for all groups of rats (p>0.05). Histological evaluation also revealed that the FNT+TRF group had less glomerulus and renal tubule damage than the FNT-treated group. In conclusion, palm oil TRF was able to reduce oxidative stress and renal damage in FNT-treated rats.

Acute and subacute oral toxicity of Litsea elliptica Blume essential oil in rats

Litsea elliptica Blume has been traditionally used to treat headache, fever, and stomach ulcer, and has also been used as an insect repellent. The acute and subacute toxicities of L. elliptica essential oil were evaluated orally by gavage in female Sprague-Dawley rats. For the acute toxicity study, L. elliptica essential oil was administered in doses from 500 to 4 000 mg/kg (single dose), and in the subacute toxicity test, the following doses were used: 125, 250, and 500 mg/kg, for 28 consecutive days. In the acute toxicity study, L. elliptica essential oil caused dose-dependent adverse behaviours and mortality. The median lethal dose value was 3 488.86 mg/kg and the acute non-observed-adversed-effect level value was found to be 500 mg/kg. The subacute toxicity study of L. elliptica essential oil did not reveal alterations in body weight, and food and water consumptions. The haematological and biochemical analyses did not show significant differences between control and treated groups in most of the parameters examined, except for the hemoglobin, mean cell hemoglobin concentration, mean cell volume, mean cell hemoglobin, serum albumin, and serum sodium. However, these differences were still within the normal range. No abnormalities or histopathological changes were observed in the liver, pancreatic islet of Langerhans, and renal glomerulous and tubular cells of all treated groups. In conclusion, L. elliptica essential oil can be classified in the U group, which is defined as a group unlikely to present an acute hazard according to World Health Organization (WHO) classification.

Toxic effects of Litsea elliptica Blume essential oil on red blood cells of Sprague-Dawley rats

Litsea elliptica Blume leaves have been traditionally used as medicinal herbs because of its antimutagenicity, chemopreventative and insecticidal properties. In this study, the toxic effects of L. elliptica essential oil against Sprague-Dawley rat’s red blood cells (RBCs) were evaluated. L. elliptica essential oil was given by oral gavage 5 times per week for 3 treated groups in the doses of 125, 250, and 500 mg/(kg body weight), respectively, and the control group received distilled water. Full blood count, RBC osmotic fragility, RBC morphological changes, and RBC membrane lipid were analyzed 28 d after the treatment. Although L. elliptica essential oil administration had significantly different effects on hemoglobin (Hb), mean cell hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), mean cell volume (MCV), and mean cell hemoglobin (MCH) in the experimental groups as compared to the control group (P<0.05), the values were still within the normal range. L. elliptica induced morphological changes of RBC into the form of echinocyte. The percentage of echinocyte increased significantly among the treated groups in a dose-response manner (P<0.001). The concentrations of RBC membrane phospholipids and cholesterol of all treated groups were significantly lower than those of control group (P<0.001). However, the RBC membrane osmotic fragility and total proteins of RBC membrane findings did not differ significantly between control and treated groups (P>0.05). It is concluded that structural changes in the RBC membrane due to L. elliptica essential oil administration did not cause severe membrane damage.

Fenitrothion alters sperm characteristics in rats: ameliorating effects of palm oil tocotrienol-rich fraction.

Exposure to organophosphate insecticides such as fenitrothion (FNT) in agriculture and public health has been reported to affect sperm quality. Antioxidants may have a potential to reduce spermatotoxic effects induced by organophosphate. The present study was carried out to evaluate the effects of palm oil tocotrienol-rich fraction (TRF) in reducing the detrimental effects occurring in spermatozoa of FNT-treated rats. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four equal groups: a control group and groups of rats treated orally with palm oil TRF (200 mg/kg), FNT (20 mg/kg) and palm oil TRF (200 mg/kg) combined with FNT (20 mg/kg). The sperm characteristics, DNA damage, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, and levels of reduced glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA), and protein carbonyl (PC) were evaluated. Supplementation with TRF attenuated the detrimental effects of FNT by significantly increasing the sperm counts, motility, and viability and decreased the abnormal sperm morphology. The SOD activity and GSH level were significantly increased, whereas the MDA and PC levels were significantly decreased in the TRF+FNT group compared with the rats receiving FNT alone. TRF significantly decreased the DNA damage in the sperm of FNT-treated rats. A significant correlation between abnormal sperm morphology and DNA damage was found in all groups. TRF showed the potential to reduce the detrimental effects occurring in spermatozoa of FNT-treated rats.

Palm oil tocotrienol-rich fraction attenuates testicular toxicity induced by fenitrothion via an oxidative stress mechanism

Palm oil tocotrienol-rich fraction (TRF) is a well known antioxidant that has shown potential in reducing oxidative stress under various pathological conditions. Exposure to organophosphates such as fenitrothion (FNT) has been reported to cause testicular oxidative damage. The present study was conducted to determine whether TRF could prevent this testicular damage. Parameters evaluated included the oxidative stress status, heat shock protein-70 (HSP70) expression, germ cell apoptosis, reproductive biochemical levels, and morphological alteration. Mature male Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 40) were given FNT (20 mg kg−1), TRF (200 mg kg−1) and TRF + FNT daily via gavage for 28 consecutive days. Co-administration of TRF in FNT-treated rats increased the activities of enzymatic antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione s-transferase (p < 0.05). TRF also increased the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) as well as the levels of non-enzymatic antioxidants such as glutathione, compared with the FNT group alone (p < 0.05). Further, TRF reduced lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation by significantly lowering the malondialdehyde and protein carbonyl levels in FNT-treated rats (p < 0.01). HSP70 expression and apoptotic germ cell count in the testis were significantly reduced in the TRF + FNT group (p < 0.05). TRF also ameliorated the biochemical changes in rat testis by reducing sialic acid, total cholesterol, and total protein at p < 0.05. Histological and ultrastructural observations revealed that supplementation with TRF improved the morphological changes in testis in the TRF + FNT group. In conclusion, TRF was able to partially mitigate testicular damage in FNT-intoxicated rats.

Roselle (Hibiscus sabdiriffa) polyphenol-rich extract prevents testicular damage of diabetic rats

© 2018 Siti Balkis Budin et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License -NonCommercialShareAlikeUnported License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/). *Corresponding Author Siti Balkis Budin, Biomedical Science Programme, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. E-mail: balkis @ ukm.edu.my Roselle (Hibiscus sabdiriffa) Polyphenol-Rich Extract Prevents Testicular Damage of Diabetic Rats

Low-dose nicotine exposure induced the oxidative damage of reproductive organs and altered the sperm characteristics of adolescent male rats

Background Nicotine is a major toxic and hazardous component of cigarette smoke, and it has been widely used in nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). This study was aimed to investigate the effects of chronic low-dose nicotine on sperm characteristics and reproductive organ integrity in adolescent male Sprague-Dawley rats. Methods Twelve rats were equally divided into two groups. Group I received normal saline, and group II received 0.6 mg/kg body weight nicotine intraperitoneally for 28 consecutive days. At the end of the experimental period, sperm was collected for sperm characteristic evaluation, and the testes and prostate were isolated for biochemical and morphological analysis. The effects of nicotine on the body and reproductive organ weights of the animals were evaluated. Results Chronic nicotine treatment significantly (P < 0.05) altered the sperm count, motility, viability, and morphology, and remarkably increased the malondialdehyde (P < 0.001) and advanced oxidation protein product (P < 0.05) levels in the testes and prostate of nicotine-treated group compared to control group. Moreover, nicotine caused a significant decrease (P < 0.05) in the superoxide dismutase activity of the testes. No significant differences were observed in the reduced glutathione level in both of the testes and prostate of nicotine group compared with control group. Nicotine also induced histopathological alteration in the testes. Conclusion A low-dose nicotine exposure at 0.6 mg/kg caused detrimental effects on sperm characteristics and induced oxidative stress in the testes and prostate.