Two months sodium nitrate supplementation alleviates testicular injury in streptozotocin‐induced diabetic male rats

Abstract

Inorganic nitrate supplementation is a possible therapeutic agent in diabetes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of nitrate on the reproductive system in streptozotocin-induced diabetic male rats. Fifty male Wistar rats were allocated randomly to five groups: control (C), control plus nitrate (CN), diabetic (D), diabetic plus insulin (DI) and diabetic plus nitrate (DN). Sodium nitrate was administered for 2 months in the drinking water (100 mg l ) of the CN and DN groups. Insulin was injected at 2-4 U daily in the DI group. Serum glucose level and body weight were measured at the beginning of the study and at regular intervals. At the end of the study, serum levels of glucose, insulin, nitrogen oxides (NOx), luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and testosterone were assessed as well as sperm parameters, testis morphometry and histology, and testicular miR-34b and p53 mRNA expression. Nitrate treatment in diabetic rats significantly improved sperm parameters, epididymal weight, spermatogenesis and testicular histology as well as decreasing serum glucose and testicular p53 gene and miR-34b expression, although it had no effect on serum LH and FSH levels. In diabetic rats, serum insulin and NOx, body weight, testicular and epididymal weight, sperm count and motility, testis morphology, spermatogenesis indices, Johnsen's score, and testosterone were significantly lower than in controls. Nitrate administration increased serum insulin, NOx and testosterone levels in the DN group. Consuming water supplemented with sodium nitrate could improve diabetes-induced testicular functional and structural disorders; these favourable effects may be related to increased serum insulin and decreased serum glucose, as well as modulation of apoptosis in testis.

Inorganic nitrate, a natural anti-obesity agent: A systematic review and meta-analysis of animal studies

“…Overall, the final body weights were significantly lower in the NO 3 supplemented groups compared to controls (WMD= -16.8 g, 95 % CI= -27.38, -6.24; P =0.002) (Figure 2 (Fig. 2) ; References in Figure 2: Ashmore et al, 2015[ 2 ]; El-Wakf et al, 2009[ 6 ], 2015[ 7 ]; Gheibi et al, 2018[ 10 ]; Hezel et al, 2016[ 13 ]; Khalifi et al, 2015[ 21 ]; Khorasani et al, 2019[ 22 ]; Norouzirad et al, 2019[ 31 ]; Oghbaei et al, 2018[ 32 ]; Roberts et al, 2015[ 35 ]; Zaki et al, 2004[ 40 ]); after exclusion of 10 experiments within the arms corresponding to high doses of NO 3 (620 and 401 mg L -1 d -1 ), overall mean differences in body weights between the groups decreased by approximately 37 % but remained statistically significant (WMD= -10.1 gr, 95 % CI= -19.0, -1.19, P =0.026).…”

“…Limited animal studies have investigated the anti-obesity effects of inorganic NO 3 as a primary hypothesis (Roberts et al, 2015[ 35 ]), while the majority of the available experiments have only reported data on body weight in NO 3 -treated animals as a secondary crude observation without any significant interpretations. This issue remains even more uncertain since inconsistent results including, higher (Hezel et al, 2016[ 13 ]; Oghbaei et al, 2018[ 32 ]), lower (Zaki et al, 2004[ 40 ]; El-Wakf et al, 2009[ 6 ]; Gheibi et al, 2018[ 10 ]; Khorasani et al, 2019[ 22 ]) or equal (Ashmore et al, 2015[ 2 ]; Khalifi et al, 2015[ 21 ]; Roberts et al, 2015[ 35 ]) weight gain have been reported in control and NO 3 -treated rats.…”

Ameliorative effect of selenium nanoparticles on the structure and function of testis and in vitro embryo development in Aflatoxin B1‐exposed male mice

“…For example 4, thus sections 4, 17, 30, 43, … were selected for stereological analysis. Finally, ten 5-µm sections per mice were analysed for histological study and 20-25 sections were analysed for stereological studies spermatogonia) indices (Oghbaei et al, 2018) were calculated in each animal as previously described.…”

Chronic asthmatic condition modulated the onset of aging in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells

“…On this basis, we followed the previous protocol that lasts over a period of 32 ± 1 days 20 . Rats received 1 mg OVA (Sigma‐Aldrich) via an intraperitoneal route on days 1 and 8.…”

“…Finally, cells were re‐suspended in low‐content glucose Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM/LG; Biosera) containing 10% FBS and 1% Pen‐Strep solution (Biosera). Cells were sub‐cultured after reaching 70% to 80% confluence 20 . Passages 3 to 6 were used in the current experiment.…”