维甲酸对热应激小鼠睾丸损伤的保护作用OACSTPCD

[Objectives]The aim of this experiment was to investigate the protective effect of retinoic acid on testicular injury in heat stressed mice.[Methods]Forty 7-week-old male ICR mice were randomly divided into four groups:control group(CON),heat stressed group(HTRA0),5 mg·kg-1·d-1retinoic acid-treated group(HTRA5)and 10 mg·kg-1·d-1retinoic acid-treated group(HTRA10).Mice were gavaged with appropriate doses of retinoic acid or corn oil and then subjected to systemic heat stress at 42℃for 2 h.The mice were slaughtered and sampled at the end of the test.[Results]Compared with the CON group,the testicular weight,minimum diameter,cross-sectional area,diameter,and epithelial height of spermatogenic tubules in the HTRA0 group were significantly reduced(P<0.05),the epididymal sperm motility significantly decreased(P<0.05),the malondialdehyde(MDA)content and the expression levels of antioxidant related genes(nrf2,ho-1,nqo1,sod1,gpx1)in testis tissue significantly increased(P<0.05),while total superoxide dismutase(T-SOD)activity significantly decreased(P<0.05),the mRNA expression level of bax significantly increased(P<0.05),the expression levels of blood-testis barrier related genes(occludin,zo-1,n-cadherin and connexin 43)significantly increased(P<0.05),and the expression levels of spermatogenesis related genes(plzf,c-kit)expression significantly increased(P<0.05).Compared with HTRA0,the cross-sectional area,diameter and epithelial height in the HTRA5 group significantly increased(P<0.05),the MDA content significantly decreased(P<0.05)while T-SOD activity significantly increased(P<0.05),and the mRNA expression levels of plzf and c-kit significantly decreased(P<0.05).Compared with HTRA0,the cross-sectional area,diameter and epithelial height of spermatogenic tubules in the HTRA10 group significantly increased(P<0.05),sperm motility significantly increased(P<0.05),MDA content significantly decreased(P<0.05),T-SOD activity significantly increased(P<0.05),and the mRNA expression levels of nqo1,bax,bcl-2,zo-1,n-cadherin,plzf and c-kit were significantly reduced(P<0.05).[Conclusions]Retinoic acid could improve testicular weight,testicular histomorphology,and epididymal sperm motility in heat-stressed mice.This protective effect may be achieved by increasing the antioxidant capacity of mouse testes,reducing germ cell apoptosis,enhancing the blood-testis barrier,and improving the spermatogenic microenvironment.