Urolithin A safeguards against diabetes-induced pathospermia and embryotoxicity in rats.

OBJECTIVE

Diabetes mellitus (DM) as a chronic disease can negatively affect male fertility due to endocrine and metabolic pathways disruption. This study was implemented to appraise the possible beneficial effects of urolithin A (UA), a natural polyphenol produced by the gut microbiota, against DM adverse effects on epididymal sperms and pre-implantation embryo development in mature rats.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

Forty mature male Wistar rats were randomly allocated to five equal groups including non-treated control group, DM group administered with intra-peritoneal streptozotocin (50 mg/kg), and three treated diabetic groups which received 25, 100, and 400 mg/kg of UA for 60 days orally. Thereafter, serum levels of testosterone, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and luteinizing hormone (LH), and testicular total anti-oxidant capacity (TTAC) and malondialdehyde (TMDA), as well as sperm quantity and quality, in vivo fertility, and in vitro fertilization (IVF) success rate were rigorously assessed.

RESULTS

The UA exerted dose-dependent protective effects against DM-related negative impacts on biochemical (testosterone, FSH, LH, TTAC, and TMDA), spermatological (sperm count, motility, viability, and chromatin and DNA qualities), in vivo fertility, and embryological (IVF, and two-cell embryos, morulae, and blastocysts formation rates) parameters.

CONCLUSION

This study's outcomes spotlighted the promising protective functions of UA in DM-associated male reproductive disorders in rats, owing its weighty anti-oxidative properties.