Tobacco smoke exposure induces irreversible alteration of testicular function in prepubertal rats
-
Jonah S. Aprioku
and
Theresa C. Ugwu
Abstract
Background:
Smoking is a serious public health problem and an important risk factor of many diseases. The present study evaluated whether or not the influence of prolonged tobacco smoke (TS) exposure on spermatic indices and reproductive hormones would be reversible in young and adult rats.
Methods:
Prepubertal and adult rats were grouped into five (I, II, III, IV, and V) separately (n=5/group) and exposed to TS at target concentrations of 0, 0.5, 1.0, 0.5, and 1.0 mg nicotine/day, respectively for 30 days using the whole body exposure inhalation method. Groups I, II, and III were sacrificed 24 h after TS exposure, while groups IV and V were allowed to recover for 30 days before they were sacrificed.
Results:
Sperm count and motility were significantly (p<0.05) reduced in exposed prepubertal and adult rats. Additionally, sperm morphology was unaltered, testosterone was reduced, while luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) were elevated compared to the non-TS exposed control group. The reductions in sperm count and motility were reversed only in adult recovery rats. LH and FSH elevations were reversed in all recovery animals, but testosterone concentrations remained lower than control. Furthermore, malondialdehyde levels in testes of exposed rats were significantly increased. This was reversed only in adult recovery rats that received 0.5 mg nicotine. Testicular levels of catalase, reduced glutathione, and superoxide dismutase were unaltered, except in prepubertal rats wherein catalase was decreased in both treated and recovery groups.
Conclusions:
The TS exposure alters sperm characteristics reversibly in adult, but irreversibly in prepubertal rats, which is attributable to elevation of oxidative stress.
Acknowledgments
We thank the assistance of technical staff of the Departments of Pharmacology and Biochemistry, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, especially Mark Bam of the Department of Biochemistry.
Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Research funding: None declared.
Employment or leadership: None declared.
Honorarium: None declared.
Competing interests: The funding organization(s) played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the report for publication.
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©2016 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Behavior and Neuroprotection
- Analgesic properties of aqueous leaf extract of Haematostaphis barteri: involvement of ATP-sensitive potassium channels, adrenergic, opioidergic, muscarinic, adenosinergic and serotoninergic pathways
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- Comparison of fluoxetine and 1-methyl-L-tryptophan in treatment of depression-like illness in Bacillus Calmette-Guerin-induced inflammatory model of depression in mice
- Reproduction
- Tobacco smoke exposure induces irreversible alteration of testicular function in prepubertal rats
- Oxidative Stress
- α-Lipoic acid attenuates transplacental nicotine-induced germ cell and oxidative DNA damage in adult mice
- Effects of nicotine in the presence and absence of vitamin E on morphology, viability and osteogenic gene expression in MG-63 osteoblast-like cells
- Metabolism
- Age-dependent features of CYP3A, CYP2C, and CYP2E1 functioning at metabolic syndrome
- Exercise increases the level of plasma orexin A in humans
- Inflammation
- Drug combinations in diabetic neuropathic pain: an experimental validation
- Pharmacokinetics of ceftriaxone in patients undergoing continuous renal replacement therapy
- Hematology
- Phenotypic homogeneity with minor deviance in osmotic fragility of Sahel goat erythrocytes in non-ionic sucrose media during various physiologic states
- Protection against arsenic-induced hematological and hepatic anomalies by supplementation of vitamin C and vitamin E in adult male rats
- One more health benefit of blood donation: reduces acute-phase reactants, oxidants and increases antioxidant capacity
- Phytotherapy
- Antithrombotic and cytotoxic activities of four Bangladeshi plants and PASS prediction of their isolated compounds
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Behavior and Neuroprotection
- Analgesic properties of aqueous leaf extract of Haematostaphis barteri: involvement of ATP-sensitive potassium channels, adrenergic, opioidergic, muscarinic, adenosinergic and serotoninergic pathways
- Correlative study of peripheral ATP1A1 gene expression level to anxiety severity score on major depressive disorder patients
- Comparison of fluoxetine and 1-methyl-L-tryptophan in treatment of depression-like illness in Bacillus Calmette-Guerin-induced inflammatory model of depression in mice
- Reproduction
- Tobacco smoke exposure induces irreversible alteration of testicular function in prepubertal rats
- Oxidative Stress
- α-Lipoic acid attenuates transplacental nicotine-induced germ cell and oxidative DNA damage in adult mice
- Effects of nicotine in the presence and absence of vitamin E on morphology, viability and osteogenic gene expression in MG-63 osteoblast-like cells
- Metabolism
- Age-dependent features of CYP3A, CYP2C, and CYP2E1 functioning at metabolic syndrome
- Exercise increases the level of plasma orexin A in humans
- Inflammation
- Drug combinations in diabetic neuropathic pain: an experimental validation
- Pharmacokinetics of ceftriaxone in patients undergoing continuous renal replacement therapy
- Hematology
- Phenotypic homogeneity with minor deviance in osmotic fragility of Sahel goat erythrocytes in non-ionic sucrose media during various physiologic states
- Protection against arsenic-induced hematological and hepatic anomalies by supplementation of vitamin C and vitamin E in adult male rats
- One more health benefit of blood donation: reduces acute-phase reactants, oxidants and increases antioxidant capacity
- Phytotherapy
- Antithrombotic and cytotoxic activities of four Bangladeshi plants and PASS prediction of their isolated compounds
