Coridius chinensis (C. chinensis) is a traditional Chinese medicine that has been used to treat pain, erectile dysfunction, and other diseases. Our previous study demonstrated that manganese‐induced reproductive damage was partially rescued by a medium dose of C. chinensis treatment in rat. However, the underlying mechanism is unknown. In this study, we found that the weight of reproductive organs and the sperm count in manganese‐exposed rat were partially rescued by C. chinensis extracts (CcE) treatment. The number of apoptotic cells was significantly decreased and the expression of malondialdehyde, cytochrome c, and caspase‐3 in manganese‐exposed rats was significantly decreased after high dose of CcE treatment. Further studies revealed that the activity of superoxide dismutase, total antioxidant capacity, and glutathione peroxidase enzymes was significantly increased in testis tissues and serum of manganese‐exposed rats with high dose of CcE treatment. Taken together, the results of this study suggest that CcE inhibits the Mn2+‐induced apoptosis in testes by inducing the activity of antioxidants.
Manganese (Mn 2+ ) is found in very small amounts in the body, but it plays an important role in maintaining normal physiological condition and involves in many cellular biological processes. It also involves the composition of many enzymes and affects the enzyme activity. It is also required for other aspects, such as blood glucose regulation, development of bone and reproduction, and brain (Aschner & Aschner, 2005;Greger, 1999). Although an adequate intake of Mn 2+ is necessary for the human body, the excessive Mn 2+ exposure can lead to male fertility decline. Numerous studies proved that environmental toxicants, manganese (Mohammed et al., 2018;
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.