Royal jelly protects male rats from heat stress‐induced reproductive failure

Abstract

Royal jelly (RJ) as an antioxidant has been shown to have attenuated oxidative stress damages in reproductive organs. The objective was carried out the effects of RJ on sperm characteristics, sperm malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration and in vitro fertilisation (IVF) outcome in heat stress (HS) exposed male rats. Forty-eight male rats were randomly divided into eight groups; group 1 received normal saline, group 2 received RJ (100 mg kg −1 day −1 ; PO), groups 3, 4 and 5 were heat-stressed (43, 39 and 37°C for 20 min per day respectively) and groups 6, 7 and 8 were heat-stressed along with RJ (43, 39 and 37°C for 20 min per day, respectively, plus RJ at a dose of 100 mg kg −1 day −1 ; PO). The HS was induced through immersion of experimental rat scrotums in a water bath. After 48 days, the HS induced remarkable diminish in sperm motility, viability and fertilising potential along with reduced blastulation rate and enhanced sperm chromatin abnormality, MDA levels and DNA damage.Nevertheless, RJ co-administration improved sperm characteristics and early embryo development as well as sperm lipid peroxidation level. Our data suggest that RJ can effectively ameliorate the experimental HS-induced infertility in rats through MDA concentration restoration and sperm characteristics and pre-implantation embryo development improvement. K E Y W O R D Searly embryo development, heat stress, malondialdehyde, rat, royal jelly, sperm

Antioxidant and anti‐apoptotic effects of royal jelly against nicotine‐induced testicular injury in mice

“…Different properties of RJ have been shown previously and it has been revealed that RJ possesses a variety of biological activities including anti-oxidative, anti-tumor, antiinflammatory and repro-protective effects. 28,31,36,77,78 In the current study, concomitant administration of RJ to NIC receiving mice remarkably improved all NIC-induced negative changes in the oxidative stress and apoptotic statuses. The protection offered by RJ against NIC reproductive toxicity is likely thanks to its ability to reduce oxidative stress through neutralizing ROS as well as NICinduced RNA damage reduction.…”

“…Recently, there have been increasing interests in the search of potential compounds being capable of minimizing the chemical‐induced reproductive toxicities. Different properties of RJ have been shown previously and it has been revealed that RJ possesses a variety of biological activities including anti‐oxidative, anti‐tumor, anti‐inflammatory and repro‐protective effects …”

“…Moreover, the anti‐tumor properties of this compound have a special place in pharmaceutics . Furthermore, previous studies have shown that RJ can be effective in enhancing male hormones and sperm count, motility and morphology as well as reproductive toxicities reduction …”

“…34 Furthermore, previous studies have shown that RJ can be effective in enhancing male hormones and sperm count, motility and morphology as well as reproductive toxicities reduction. 35,36 The current study aimed to investigate the potential detrimental effects of NIC in various doses on function, apoptotic changes and oxidative stress status of mice testis and possible protective effects of RJ on reproductive toxicity induced by NIC.…”

New Insights into the Biological and Pharmaceutical Properties of Royal Jelly

“…The co-administration of RJ and cod liver oil could improve the biochemical, hormonal, and structural aspects of testicular tissue in food yellow 4 (FY4)-induced rats [107]. The co-administration could effectively improve sperm characteristics and early embryo development as well as the sperm lipid peroxidation level by acting as a promising reproductive agent in heat-stress conditions [189].…”