What can beberine do as an antioxidant against varicocele-induced renewal arrest Correlation with TNFα, IL6, redox enzymes and cell renewal

Background: Varicocele (VCL), as main male-related fertility problem, adversely affects the spermatogenesis and testicular endocrine status, inflicts inflammation and severely reduces sperm volume and quality. The interleukin-6 (IL6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) are reported to result in spermatogonial stem cell (SSCs) arrest. On the other hand, the Glial-cell-line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and its special receptor Gfrα1, C-Ret, Bcl-6b have been illustrated as inflictors of the SSCs renewal process. Considering the impressive role of oxidative stress in triggering the inflammation and spermatogenesis cycle arrest, present study was conducted to investigate the berberine, potential antioxidant agent against VCL-induced derangements.Methods: Thirty mature male Wistar rats were randomly divided into control (NO: 6 rats), control-sham (NO: 6 rats) and experimental groups (NO: 18 rats). The animals in experimental groups were undergone experimental varicocele and simple laparatomy was conducted in control-sham group. The experimental group subdivided into: Non-treated VCL-induced, 50 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg berberine-treated groups. The mRNA and protein levels of GDNF, Gfrα1, C-Ret and Bcl-6b were evaluated by using RT-PCR and western blotting techniques, respectively. Moreover, the testicular IL-6, TNFα, glutathione peroxidase (GSH-px), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) levels were assessed.Result: Observations showed that, the berberine significantly (P Conclusion: Considering these findings, berberine, by up-regulating the antioxidant status, diminishing the IL-6 and TNFα content of testicles, and by promoting the expression of renewal machinery genes/proteins remarkably ameliorates the VCL-related SCCs renewal arrest.

کلیدواژه ها:

IL-6 ، Oxidative stress ، SCCs renewal ، TNFα ، Varicocele