Quercetin ameliorates polychlorinated biphenyls-induced testicular DNA damage in rats

Abstract

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a group of environmental contaminants widely reported to cause gonadal toxicity in both humans and animals. This study investigated the amelioratory role of quercetin in PCBs-induced DNA damage in male Wistar rats. Polychlorinated biphenyls were administered intraperitoneally at a dose of 2 mg kg(-1) alone or in combination with quercetin (orally) at 50 mg kg(-1) for 25 days. Quercetin modulation of PCBs-induced gonadal toxicity was evaluated using selected oxidative stress indices, comet assay, measurement of DNA concentration and histology of the testes. Administration of PCBs alone caused a significant (P < 0.05) depletion in the total thiol level in testes of treated rats. Conversely, the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) production were markedly elevated in testes of PCBs-treated rats compared with control. Further, PCBs exposure produced statistically significant increases in DNA tail migration, degraded double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) concentration and histological alterations of testes of the treated rats compared to control. Quercetin cotreatment significantly improved the testicular antioxidant status, decreased DNA fragmentation and restored the testicular histology, thus demonstrating the protective effect of quercetin in PCBs-treated rats.

Antioxidant, hepatoprotective, genoprotective, and cytoprotective effects of quercetin in a murine model of arthritis

“…Double‐strand DNA fragmentation was found to be increased in arthritic rats indicating cytotoxicity, which was likely due to oxidative damage and apoptosis. Treatment with quercetin reverted these results, in agreement with the observations of Abdalla et al and Lovato et al from studies on murine models of chemical cytotoxicity. This effect may be associated with the antioxidant action of quercetin, due to the presence of the O‐dihydroxyl structure at the 3′ and 4′ positions in the B‐ring referred to as the catechol group whose configuration confers high scavenging capacity …”

“…This effect may be associated with the antioxidant action of quercetin, due to the presence of the O-dihydroxyl structure at the 3′ and 4′ positions in the B-ring referred to as the catechol group whose configuration confers high scavenging capacity. 74,75 In summary, we demonstrated that quercetin protects against tissue damage by reversing the deleterious effects of CFA-induced arthritis. This protective effect was demonstrated by reductions in AST, ROS, TBARS levels, and an increase in CAT activity following administration of quercetin, as well as by reductions in DNA damage and fragmentation of double-strand DNA.…”

Dietary supplementation of ginger and turmeric improves reproductive function in hypertensive male rats

“…ROS production was quantified by the 2′,7′-dichlorodihydrofluorescin diacetate (DCFH-DA) method based on the ROS-dependent oxidation of DCFH-DA to DCF [71] , [44] . Briefly, 50 μL of testes and epididymides homogenates, Tris–HCl buffer (10 mM; pH 7.4) and DCFH-DA solution at final concentration of 50 μM were incubated in the dark for 30 min to allow the probe to be incorporated into any membrane-bound vesicles, and the diacetate groups cleaved by esterases.…”

Lactational exposure of polychlorinated biphenyls downregulates critical genes in Leydig cells of F1 male progeny (PND21)

“…The PCBs reduced the percentage of testicular Leydig cells at 3 weeks after birth, indicating the inhibition of Leydig cell differentiation (Yamamoto et al., ). Dose‐dependent lactational exposure of F1 male offspring Leydig cell number was evidenced while isolation showed reduced cell population and also in histoarchitecture (Lovato et al., ). These data confirmed the disturbed testicular interstitial space and Leydig cell number can be explained by Sertoli cellular junctions and reduced oestradiol and Sertoli cell signalling towards nourishment of Leydig cellular maturation.…”