The Oleo-Gum-Resin of Commiphora myrrha Ameliorates Male Reproductive Dysfunctions in Streptozotocin-Induced Hyperglycemic Rats

Abstract

Background: The oleo-gum-resin of Commiphora myrrha (myrrh) has a long history of therapeutic use in traditional medicine. The aim of this study was to seek for the scientific evidence to determine whether the ethanolic extract of myrrh (EEM) has any beneficial effects on Streptozotocin (STZ) induced testicular impairments, and explore the possible mechanisms underlying such actions. Methods: Forty-eight severe and complicated diabetic rats (fasting blood glucose above 350 mg/dL), randomly were divided into six equal groups (n=8). Besides, eight healthy rats allocated as a normal control group and only treated with vehicle solution. The diabetic animals orally received the extract (100, 200, 300, and 500 mg/kg), metformin (500 mg/kg) or vehicle solution for 28 days. As a final point, plasma glucose and insulin, circulatory sex hormones, sperm parameters including sperm concentration, motility and viability and also testicular malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were assessed. Furthermore, quantitative histological evaluation of seminiferous tubules area and determination of germinal cells apoptosis were performed. Results: None of the studied doses of EEM showed anti-diabetic effects. However, the extract mainly at the maximum dose (500 mg/kg) exhibited beneficial effects on reproductive impairments. The EEM treated rats mainly at 500 mg/kg had significantly higher sperm concentration, sperm motility, sperm viability, sex hormones and lower testicular MDA and germ cell apoptosis index than untreated diabetic rats. Conclusion: These results indicated that EEM may have beneficial effects against reproductive dysfunction induced by diabetes. The mechanisms behind the effects might be associated with the EEM sex hormone booster potential, antioxidant and anti-apoptotic properties.

Protective effects of carvacrol against diabetes‐induced reproductive damage in male rats: Modulation of Nrf2/HO‐1 signalling pathway and inhibition of Nf‐kB‐mediated testicular apoptosis and inflammation

“…When examining oxidative stress parameters in the current study, it was determined that diabetes increased the MDA level, while decreased levels of GSH, activities of GSH.Px, CAT at fourth and eight weeks (Tables 1 and 2). These findings were found to be similar to the findings of studies (Armagan et al, 2006;Atta et al, 2017;Hassanzadeh-Taheri & Hosseini, 2019;Kermani et al, 2019;Sudirman et al, 2018;Zha et al, 2018), which reported that diabetes increased MDA levels and decreased antioxidant enzyme activities in testicular tissue. (Aksu et al, 2016;Cengiz et al, 2017;Daggulli et al, 2014;Shoorei et al, 2019).…”

The protective effect of crocin on cisplatin-induced testicular impairment in rats

“…Testicular relative weight is a good indicator of normal spermatogenesis, frequently measured in reproductive studies [ 30 ]. CIS administration (7 mg/kg) significantly reduced the relative testicular weight in the current study, which is consistent with previous reports [ 10 , 12 , 33 ].…”

“…The most common pathological feature observed concerning the testicular toxicity is the germinal epithelium’s loosening [ 38 , 39 ]. Therefore, quantitative assessment of germinal epithelium area or its diameter has been performed in different studies [ 1 , 30 , 31 , 36 ]. It is well-demonstrated that CIS affects testicular germinal epithelium by both cytotoxic effect and induction of apoptosis [ 40 ].…”

“…The slides were stained with hematoxylin and eosin and analyzed under a light microscope (Euromex-CMEX-10). The quantitative parameters including seminiferous tubule area (µm 2 ) and germinal layer area (µm 2 ) were measured using Image J Software (1.44p; National Institute of Health, U.S.) as previously described [ 30 , 31 ]. Moreover, the coefficient of germinal layer area to seminiferous tubule area was calculated.…”

Comments on "The improvement Effects of Gordonia bronchialis on Male Fertility of Rats with Diabetes Mellitus Induced by Streptozotocin"

“…12 For this reason, most investigations using STZ-diabetic rats have followed for 4-6 weeks, 5 sometimes 8 weeks 13 or diabetic animals have been left untreated for 3-4 weeks before starting the experiment to develop chronic complications of diabetes like testicular impairment. 10,[14][15][16] The second important point which worth to be considered in the studies using animal models of diabetes is the number of diabetic animals. It is well documented that acute mortality rate within a week after STZ-injection was inversely correlated to animal age as well as weight.…”