Depression and antidepressant drugs induce adverse effects in male reproduction. Therefore, it is important to investigate alternative treatment for depression without adverse effects on the male reproductive system. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of pre-germinated brown rice (PGBR) on sperm quality, testicular structure and androgen receptor (AR) expression in rat model of depression. Male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into five groups including control (distilled water only), depression induced by forced swimming test (FST), FST + fluoxetine (antidepressant drug), FST + GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) (standard) and FST + PGBR. When compared with the control, sperm motility showed a significant decrease in FST + fluoxetine group. Sperm morphology also decreased significantly in depression and FST + fluoxetine groups. The morphological changes of seminiferous tubules showed significant increases in depression and FST + fluoxetine groups, while AR expression showed significant decreases in depression, FST + fluoxetine and FST + GABA groups. Interestingly, there were no significant differences in all sperm quality parameters, testicular structure and AR expression in FST + PGBR group. These findings reflect the recovery effects of PGBR treatment on sperm quality, morphological changes of seminiferous tubules and AR expression in stress-induced rats. Therefore, PGBR may potentially develop for the treatment for depression without adverse effect on male reproduction.

Drug addiction is reported to have adverse effects in male reproduction. Dextromethorphan (DXM) administration was used in this study as a model of addiction in rats, and various treatments including the use of pre-germinated brown rice (PGBR) were investigated for their effects on the changes of sperm quality, testicular structure and androgen receptor (AR) expressions in rats receiving DXM. The results demonstrated that these animals showed significant reduction in all parameters of sperm quality, an increase in abnormal testicular structure and decreased androgen receptor expression in spermatogenic, Sertoli and Leydig cells. However, different effects of the treatments applied in this study were observed with the greatest recovery effect from treatment with PGBR. Sperm motility and sperm concentration reverted to normal after treatment with PGBR for 60 days. Moreover, all parameters of testicular structure also returned to normal after 60 days of PGBR treatment, as well as AR expression in Sertoli and Leydig cells. Therefore, we have demonstrated that PGBR treatment can reverse the changes in sperm quality, testicular structure and AR expression in addicted animals and PGBR may be a novel therapeutic strategy for the treatment of drug addiction.

SUMMARY: An exhaustive knowledge of the liver vascular patterns as well as possible anatomical variations is significant in the planning and performance of all liver surgical procedures in order for the vascularity not to be disturbed or not causing necrosis of the liver parenchyma postoperatively. The celiac trunk usually provides three branches; left gastric, splenic and common hepatic arteries. The left and right hepatic arteries generally derive from proper hepatic artery which is a branch of common hepatic artery. To study the incidence of celiac trunk ramification, the branching patterns of the celiac trunk of 23 Thai cadavers (17 males, 6 females) were documented during routine dissection by medical students at the Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medical Science, Naresuan University, Thailand. The clinically important variations of the celiac trunk were noted. The results showed that all celiac trunks arose from each aortas at the T12 vertebra (17.39%, 4 cases), intervertebral disc between T12 and L1 vertebra (78.26%, 18 cases) and upper 1/3 rd of L1 vertebra (4.35%, 1 case). We found 95.65% (22 cases) normal celiac trunk trifurcation; whereas, 4.35% (1 case) was abnormal quadrifurcation of the trunk. The accessory hepatic artery (aHA) was presented as an additional branch of celiac trunk because the conventional pattern of the left and right hepatic arteries was presented. This finding is one of the rare anatomical variations which is reported in available literatures. The awareness of celiac trunk and its stems aberrant is important in procedures such as liver transplant for appropriate vascular ligation and anastomosis.

Background Neuroinflammation is initiated by the activation of the brain’s innate immune system in response to an inflammatory challenge. Insufficient control of neuroinflammation leads to enhanced or prolonged pathology in neurological conditions, including multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, and Alzheimer’s disease. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) plays critical roles in cellular energy metabolism and calcium homeostasis. Our previous study demonstrated that the deletion of CD38, an enzyme that converts NAD+ to calcium-mobilizing second messengers, increased NAD+ levels in the brain and suppressed neuroinflammation, glial activation, and demyelination in a cuprizone-induced demyelination model mouse. However, the direct effects of CD38 and NAD+ on neuroinflammation have not been clarified. Here, we investigated the effect of CD38 inhibition and NAD+ replacement in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced neuroinflammation in mice. Methods To induce neuroinflammation, LPS (10 µg) was injected into the lateral cerebral ventricle of wild-type (WT) and CD38 knockout (KO) male ICR mice. Apigenin, a flavonoid with CD38 inhibitory activity, (40 mg/kg) or nicotinamide riboside (NR), an NAD+ precursor, (400 mg/kg) was administered intraperitoneally, once per day for 7 consecutive days, followed by LPS injection 6 h after the final administration of apigenin or NR. NAD+ levels in the hippocampus were measured, and neuroinflammation and neuronal damage in the hippocampus were assessed by qPCR, western blotting, and immunohistochemical analysis. In cell culture, mouse primary astrocytes and microglia were treated with apigenin (50 µM), NAD+ (200 µM), NR (200 µM), or 78c (0.5 µM; a specific CD38 inhibitor), 4 h before LPS (100 ng/mL) stimulation. Proinflammatory cytokine expression and NF-kB nuclear translocation were assessed by qPCR and immunocytochemical analysis, respectively. Results CD38 expression in the cortex and hippocampus increased after LPS administration. Inflammatory responses and glial activation after LPS injection were significantly lower in CD38 KO mice than in WT mice. Pre-administration of apigenin or NR for 7 d increased NAD+ levels in the brain and significantly suppressed the induction of cytokines and chemokines after LPS administration in mice. Moreover, LPS-induced glial activation and neurodegeneration were significantly suppressed under the same conditions. In cell culture, LPS-induced inflammatory responses were suppressed by treatment of primary astrocytes or microglia with apigenin, NAD+, NR, or 78c. Finally, all these compounds suppressed the translocation of p65 to the nucleus by LPS in cultured microglia. Conclusions CD38-mediated neuroinflammation is linked to NAD+ consumption, and CD38 inhibition and NR supplementation may be beneficial for preventing neuroinflammation in pathological conditions.