Costus afer leaf extract protects against testicle damage caused by cyclosporine A in adult male Wistar rats through an antioxidant mechanism

Abstract

Cyclosporine A is one of the most widely used drugs in organ transplant and oncology patients. But its use is accompanied by many toxicities. This study aimed to investigate the possible protective effect of Costus afer (C. afer) leaf extract on cyclosporine A‐induced testicular toxicity. This study was carried out on 40 adult male Wistar rats were divided into four groups: control, C. afer, cyclosporine A and cyclosporine A+ C. afer groups. The investigations include genital weight, sperm count and characters, serum luteinising hormone (LH) and testosterone, testicular tissue contents of reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx) and lipid peroxidation (MDA). Besides, a histopathological examination of testicular tissue stained with haematoxylin and eosin (H & E) was performed. Cyclosporine A+ C. afer group showed a significant increase in the genital weight, serum testosterone, sperm count, motility and viability. Besides, the extract significantly decreased testicular content of MDA and increased SOD, CAT and GSHPx. C. afer coadministration significantly decreased serum LH and sperm abnormalities and protected against testicular histopathological alterations. The extract showed a protective effect against testicular toxicity associated with cyclosporine A and that was through an antioxidant mechanism.

Lutein Attenuates Cyclosporin-induced Testicular Impairment in Male Rats through Modulation of Androgenic Hormones and Enzymes

“…The production of fewer spermatozoa could be caused by changes in the marker testicular enzymes activities linked with changes in histopathology. Previous reports (Khattab and Mansoury, 2020;Shukry et al, 2020) have shown that cyclosporine causes histological changes in the testes, including germinal cell atrophy, necrosis, and degeneration, interstitial edema, vascular congestion, and spillage of immature spermatogonia and spermatocytes into the lumen of seminiferous tubules. The group cotreated with lutein showed improved testicular histopathological features which agree with the findings of Fatani et al (2015) and , demonstrating that lutein treatment restores testicular function and normal spermatogenesis.…”

“…Furthermore, there is evidence that long-term use of cyclosporine induces testicular damage leading to reduced sperm count and motility through a variety of mechanisms that involve oxidative stress (Lee, 2013;Pan et al, 2018). Epidemiological and experimental investigations have shown that cyclosporine reduces testosterone synthesis, causes DNA damage, and raises the apoptotic index of germinal cells in seminiferous tubules (Turk et al, 2007(Turk et al, , 2010Pan et al, 2018;Ghazipoor et al, 2020;Khattab et al, 2020). It has recently been demonstrated that phytochemicals derived from herbs and spices like chamomile (Al-Dabbagh et al, 2019), curcumin (Huang et al, 2018), lycopene (Ateşşahin et al, 2007), Nacetylcysteine (Duru et al, 2008), black grape extract (Ergüderİ et al, 2005), morin (Ben-Azu et al, 2018, lutein (Buscemi et al, 2018) and taurine (Hagar et al, 2004;Oyovwi et al, 2021) possess powerful antioxidant and neuroprotective activities.…”

Persea americana seed extract restores defective sperm quality and biochemical parameters relevant to reproduction in male wistar rats treated with cyclosporine A

“…This will lead to a decrease in LH‐mediated testosterone synthesis and secretion from the Leydig cell. Cyclosporine also affected the serum level of follicle‐stimulating hormone by decreasing the phagocytic mechanism of Sertoli cells (Khattab & Mansoury, 2020). The decrease in the luteinizing hormone could also be a result of a decreased expression of the Leydig cell.…”

“…The use of different immunosuppressant for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and transplantation has been linked with the endocrine disruption, damage on the reproductive tissues, and alteration in the hormone activity. A good example is cyclosporine A. Cyclosporine is an immunophilin modulator and a calcineurin inhibitor which have serious side effects on multiple organs including the reproductive system (Khattab & Mansoury, 2020). Studies have linked the use of cyclosporine with infertility via oxidative stress mechanism (Drobnis & Nangia, 2017).…”

“…Studies have linked the use of cyclosporine with infertility via oxidative stress mechanism (Drobnis & Nangia, 2017). Cyclosporine brings about dysfunction of the reproductive system by interrupting the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axis, inducing oxidative damage on the testes, inhibiting enzymes activities required for the synthesis of various hormones and various receptors (Khattab & Mansoury, 2020; Pan et al, 2018).…”