Effect of green tea extract (Camellia sinensis) on the spermatic parameters of Wistar rats submitted or not to testicular heat shock

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of green tea extract (GTE) on the spermatic parameters of Wistar rats, submitted or not to testicular heat shock (HS). For this, 48 animals were treated according to the experimental groups (G1: not exposed to HS and untreated; G2: exposed to HS and untreated; G3: not exposed to HS and treated with GTE; G4: exposed to HS and treated with GTE). Subgroups of rats were euthanized on days 15, 30, and 60 to recover the spermatozoa. The total motility (TM), vigor, spermatic morphology and concentration, mitochondrial membrane potential, plasma membrane integrity, and acrosome integrity (ACi) were analyzed. The TM was higher in G1 and G3 than in G2 and G4 on day 30, and higher in G4 on day 60. The overall means of TM and vigor were higher in G1 and G3 than in G2 and G4, as well as TM on day 60. For the morphology, G2 and G4 were lower than G1 and G3 on day 15, and G4 was lower than G1 and G3 on day 30. Moreover, in G1 and G3 morphology was higher on days 15 and 30, and in G4 it was lower on day 30, with the overall means being higher in G1 and G3 than in G2 and G4, as well as on days 15 and 60 compared to day 30. The overall mean of ACi, on day 30, was lower than on days 15 and 60 for all the groups. Therefore, HS is shown to be widely deleterious to the gametes, and the daily administration of 100 mg/kg green tea extract does not improve the spermatic parameters of Wistar rats, submitted or not to testicular HS, although it leads to better recovery of spermatic motility and morphology at 60 days.

Effect of administration of green tea extract on regeneration of the testicular parenchyma of Wistar rats submitted to heat stress

“…for the G4, is indicative of complete restoration of spermatogenesis (Jannes et al, 1998). Thus, the findings demonstrate the protective effect of the catechins present in green tea, as previously reported, against the negative effects of testicular hyperthermia (Abshenas et al, 2011;Vieira et al, 2020), as well as the sensitivity of germ cells and Sertoli cells to the action of heat (Kanter et al, 2013;Thanh et al, 2020).…”

“…At 120 days of age, the animals were divided through random probabilistic sampling into four experimental groups, each with 21 subjects (G1: not supplemented and not exposed to heat stress; G2: not supplemented and exposed to heat stress; G3: supplemented with green tea extract and not exposed to heat stress; G4: supplemented with green tea extract and exposed to heat stress). In turn, green tea extract (China-Hong Kong, via Pharma Nostra® handling establishment) was weighed and diluted daily in distilled water, so that each G3 and G4 animal received, every 24 hours, 100 mg/kg of extract in aqueous solution form, based on the amount of 50 mg/kg epigallocatechin gallate present in the extract used (Vieira et al, 2020).…”

“…Subsequent to recovery from anesthesia, administration by oral gavage of aqueous solution of green tea extract or distilled water was initiated, according to the experimental groups. The treatment continued for 60 days, during which the animals were weighed daily to correct the administered dose of the extract, and without sample loss (Vieira et al, 2020).…”