Naringenin attenuates highly active antiretroviral therapy‐induced spermDNAfragmentations and testicular toxicity in Sprague‐Dawley rats

Abstract

SUMMARYHighly active antiretroviral therapy has evolved over the years, leading to a boost in the quality of life in people living with HIV and AIDS. However, growing evidence has shown that highly active antiretroviral therapy has deleterious effects on the testes and the overall reproductive capacity. Therefore, this study is to determine the adjuvant potential of Naringenin on highly active antiretroviral therapy-induced perturbations in fertility of male Sprague-Dawley rats. Thirty adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into six groups viz -Control; H: 30 mg/kg of highly active antiretroviral therapy (EFV, 600 mg + FTC, 200 mg + TDF, 300 mg); N40: Naringenin, 40 mg/kg; N80: Naringenin, 80 mg/kg; HN40: highly active antiretroviral therapy + Naringenin, 40 mg/kg; HN80: highly active antiretroviral therapy + Naringenin, 80 mg/kg. The rats were euthanized after 4 weeks. Results showed that there was a significant decrease in sperm count (p < 0.001), spermatozoa with normal morphology (p < 0.001) and progressive sperm motility (p < 0.05) of H compared to the control and the HN groups. Likewise, fragmentations increased (p < 0.05) in tail lengths of sperm DNA in H compared to control. HN40 and HN80 decreased tail lengths compared to H (p < 0.001). There was also a decrease in %tail DNA and tail moment in HN40 (p < 0.001) compared to H. Luteinizing hormone significantly increased (p < 0.05) in HN40, HN80, and N40 (p < 0.001) but decreased in H (p < 0.05) compared to control. The diameter of the seminiferous tubules also decreased (p < 0.05) in H compared to control, N80, and HN40. Likewise, the area of the seminiferous tubules in group H decreased (p < 0.05) compared to N80 and HN80. The seminiferous tubules epithelium increased (p < 0.05) in N40 and HN40 compared to H. This study establishes that highly active antiretroviral therapy has deleterious effects on the testicular microanatomy, sperm parameters, and sperm DNA of Sprague-Dawley rats, which may impair fertility but Naringenin is a potential complimentary adjuvant.

Effect of crocin and naringenin supplementation in cryopreservation medium on post-thawed rooster sperm quality and expression of apoptosis associated genes

“…It is demonstrated that in stressful conditions, naringenin has the ability to chelate irons and decrease ROS production. Interestingly, it is related to the fact that naringenin has 5-hydroxy and 4-carbonyl groups in the C-ring which plays a role in ROS scavenging, Cu, and Fe ions interaction [38, 39]. Therefore, adding naringenin to the cryopreservation medium can decrease the stress caused by freezing, consequently can increase motility which was observed in our study.…”

Testicular microanatomical and hormonal alterations following use of antiretroviral therapy inSprague Dawleyrats: Role of Naringenin

“…Thirty (30) disease‐free adult male SD rats were randomly divided into 6 equal number groups. Group A served as control and was given distilled water, B was given the FDC of HAART containing TDF/FTC/EFV, C had naringenin, 40 mg/kg, D had naringenin, 80 mg/kg (Adana et al, ). The last two groups, E and F had TDF/FTC/EFV and naringenin 40 and 80 mg/kg respectively.…”

“…Sperm morphology was accessed by staining dry smeared spermatozoa on glass slide with eosin‐nigrosin staining. Morphology was described as normal, abnormal head, abnormal midpiece, and abnormal tail (Adana et al, ; Azu et al, ).…”

“…HAART‐induced toxicity has been reported to cause deleterious histopathological changes in the testes. Changes observed include tubular atrophy with altered morphometric indices (Adana et al, ; Azu et al, ). Autopsy studies on individuals on HAART revealed testicular histomorphologic abnormalities, and testicular atrophy in more than 95% of cases (Da Silva et al, ).…”

“…In addition, structural integrity of the testis is essential for maintenance of the hormonal equilibrium including testosterone production. Therefore, with altered androgen levels linked to HAART protocols (Adana et al, ; Muthiah, Kallikadavil, Shivaswamy, & Menon, ), fertility issues become very rife in men on HAART.…”