Vitamin D3 regulates apoptosis and proliferation in the testis of D-galactose-induced aged rat model

Abstract

The age-associated imbalances between proliferation and apoptosis lead to impaired spermatogenesis and infertility. The age-associated decline in vitamin D3 levels has been reported and suggested the anti-aging potential of vitamin D3. However, the age-associated decline levels of vitamin D3 has not been studied in relation to the testicular activity. Thus, we investigated the effect of vitamin D3 on the expression of testicular proliferation markers, apoptotic markers, antioxidants system and oxidative stress in a D-gal-induced aged rat model. The present study investigated the levels of vitamin D3 and AGE in serum and testes along with the expression of the AGE-receptor (AGER) in the testis. Vitamin D3 treatment significantly increases cell proliferation and decreases apoptosis in a D-gal-induced aged rat testis. Furthermore, vitamin D3 significantly decreases oxidative stress in aged rat testis by improving the antioxidant defense systems. The expression of AGER was down-regulated by vitamin D3 treatment in aged testis. The circulating and intra-testicular AGE was higher in aged groups, however, only circulating vitamin D3 levels decreased in aged groups. The immunolocalization of VDR showed increased immunostaining in the testis by vitamin D3 treatment. Thus, it can be concluded that vitamin D3 delays testicular senescence by regulating proliferation and apoptosis.

Portulaca oleracea seeds’ extract alleviates acrylamide-induced testicular dysfunction by promoting oxidative status and steroidogenic pathway in rats

“…As the dynamics of testicular germ cells are precisely controlled by a balance between cell proliferation and apoptosis [ 45 ]. Therefore, the effects of ACR on testicular apoptotic and proliferation markers were unravelled in the present investigation.…”

“…This diminished expression of PCNA by ACR has been previously documented [ 39 ]. ACR-associated apoptosis together with the decreased cell proliferation could be responsible for testicular dysfunction and might be the reason for the deteriorated sperm viability and mobility [ 45 ]. The significant elevation in PCNA expression in POS treated groups may be associated with the rise in cell cycle progression and the reduction of apoptosis.…”

Heat‐induced changes in the expression and localisation of PGC‐1 α in the mice testis

“…For histomorphometric analyses, tubular sections that were round or nearly round from H&E slides were selected and the diameter and the germinal epithelial height of 50 seminiferous tubules were measured using an ocular micrometer of 10× magnification (Jeremy, Gurusubramanian, & Roy, 2019a, 2019b).…”

“…Immunoblotting of testicular tissue was performed based on the previous report (Jeremy et al, 2019a, 2019b). In brief, decapsulated testicular tissues were homogenised in a weight‐adjusted volume of suspension buffer (50 mmol/L Tris − HCl, with pH 8.0, 150 mmol/L of NaCl, 1 mmol/L EDTA 1 g/ml aprotinin, 1 mmol/L phenylmethylsulphonyl fluoride (PMSF) and 0.1% SDS).…”

Effect of Age on Histological Changes of Urogenital Tract in Albino Rats

“…In histological study of spermatogenesis in 30 men who died of trauma or myocardial infraction, spermatogenesis, as defined by spermatid nuclei, decreased with increasing age (27). Furthermore, the ageassociated imbalances between proliferation and programmed cell death lead to defected in spermatogenesis and infertility (28) In the prostate of the aging rats included papillary hyperplasia of the lining epithelium and the presence of variable amounts of colloid substances. These changes are agreement with (29).…”