Interventional effects of squid ink polysaccharides on cyclophosphamide-associated testicular damage in mice

Abstract

Cyclophosphamide (CP) is a commonly used antitumour and immunosuppressive drug, but it is inevitable that the chemotherapeutic agent may cause long-term or permanent reproductive damage on young male patients through inducing oxidative stress in the testes. Squid ink polysaccharides (SIP), a newly found marine glycosaminoglycon have been proved to have antioxidant capabilities and chemotherapy-protective activities on model animals in our recent investigations. This study was conducted to assess whether or not SIP could protect male mice against gonadotoxicity during CP exposure. Sexually mature male Kunming mice were allocated to one of four groups. CP was abdominally administered at dose of 15 mg/kg body weight to two groups of mice for ten weeks, once a week, one group of mice received SIP at dose of 80 mg/kg body weight by gavage for ten weeks, once a day. The other two groups comprised a vehicle treated group and an SIP treated group. Toxicity of CP and protective activity of SIP on the testes were assessed by: sperm parameters, organ index, testicular antioxidant ability, activities of marker enzymes, sex hormone content, and histopathological features. Data showed CP-induced, serious negative changes on murine sperm parameters, organ index, testicular antioxidant ability, activities of marker enzymes, sexual hormone contents, and histopathological features which were all signifi cantly impaired by SIP. This study found that SIP were demonstrated to offer protective effects against CP-induced toxicity on testes in mice (Tab. 2, Fig. 3, Ref. 29). Text in PDF www.elis.sk.

The effects of Vitamin C on sperm quality parameters in laboratory rats following long-term exposure to cyclophosphamide

“…[19] Other studies also indicated that use of cyclophosphamide low doses in the long-term can decrease the weights of body and reproductive organs in male rats, cause atrophy in certain organs such as testicles and epididymis, and hence affect fertility rate. [151920212223]…”

“…For example, a study on rats demonstrated that cyclophosphamide had adverse effects on sperm parameters and testicular antioxidants. [15]…”

Inhibition of chemotherapy‑induced apoptosis of testicular cells by squid ink polysaccharide

“…There is also evidence of the protective effect of SIP on the male reproductive system. In a previous study, SIP effectively reduced testicular pathological damage caused by CP in mice, thus increasing testicular weight and sperm quantity, reducing sperm deformity rates, improving testis iconic enzyme activity and redox homeostasis, and maintaining natural hormone levels in serum and testes ( 1 ). Although the preventative effects of SIP towards CP-induced damage of testes and apoptosis in murine germ cells have been identified ( 10 ), its regulative processes remain unclear.…”

“…Cyclophosphamide (CP) exhibits positive therapeutic effects in clinical practice; however, it also causes undesirable harm to normal organs and tissues, such as the testes ( 1 ). Previous studies ( 2 – 4 ) have indicated that a large number of free radicals and oxidation products are produced in mice after intraperitoneal injection of CP, which may cause testicular oxidative stress resulting in DNA double-strand breaks and germ cell apoptosis.…”

“…Squid ink polysaccharide (SIP), a natural marine product, is considered to be a potentially effective, non-toxic, broad-spectrumcy to protective agent due to its anti-oxidant ( 1 ), anti-tumor ( 11 ) and anti-chemotherapy ( 1 , 12 – 16 ) functions. SIP has been identified as a type of glycosaminoglycan, with a unique structure: [3GlcAβ1-4(GalNAc α1-3)-Fucα1] n ( 17 ).…”