[Yishen Tongluo Prescription for repairing benzo(a)pyrene-induced sperm DNA damage in male rats: Effect and mechanism].

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the repairing effect of Yishen Tongluo Prescription (YTP) on sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI) in male rats exposed to benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) and its possible mechanism.

METHODS

Thirty Wistar male rats were equally randomized into a blank control, a BaP-exposure and a YTP intervention group, those in the latter two groups exposed to BaP at 20 mg/kg/d for 60 consecutive days, and those in the YTP intervention group treated intragastrically with YTP from the 31st day of BaP exposure for a total of 30 days. After the last administration, the sperm DFI of the rats was detected by sperm chromatin structure analysis, the levels of FSH, LH and T in the serum and superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in the testis were measured by ELISA.

RESULTS

Compared with the blank controls, the rats in the BaP-exposure group showed significantly increased DFI ( ［4.23 ± 1.40］% vs ［12.46 ± 3.07］%, P < 0.05), serum FSH (［1.76 ± 0.31］ vs ［2.53 ± 0.28］ U/L, P < 0.05) and LH (［30.59 ± 2.14］ vs ［39.72 ± 2.80］ U/L, P < 0.05), decreased levels of serum T (［5.33 ± 0.43］ vs ［4.42 ± 0.38］ nmol/L, P < 0.05) and testicular SOD (［166.18 ± 3.74］ vs ［113.23 ± 10.76］ U/ml, P < 0.05) and ATP (［41.23 ± 2.21］ vs ［33.48 ± 2.74］ mol/L, P < 0.05), and elevated contents of MDA (［7.55 ± 0.93］ vs ［10.59 ± 1.17］ nmol/ml, P < 0.05) and NO (［44.23±4.47］ vs ［54.49 ± 3.13］ mol/L, P < 0.05). All the above parameters returned to normal after YTP intervention (DFI: ［5.73 ± 2.46］%, FSH: ［2.07 ± 0.45］ U/L, LH: ［33.94 ± 4.44］ U/L, T: ［4.96 ± 0.24］ nmol/L, SOD: ［135.22 ± 7.26］ U/ml, ATP: ［38.26 ± 2.14］ mol/L, MDA: ［8.37 ± 1.29］ nmol/ml, NO: ［48.36 ± 3.98］ mol/L), with statistically significant difference from those in the BaP-exposure group (all P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Yishen Tongluo Prescription can repair BaP-induced sperm DNA damage in male rats, which may be attributed to its effects of suppressing oxidative damage.