Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of icariside II (ICA II) on the prevention of streptozotocin (STZ) induced spermatogenic dysfunction.
Methods: Forty male Sprague-Dawley rats received intraperitoneal injection of STZ (55 mg/kg) and were equally randomized to gavage feeding of vehicle (the vehicle group) or ICAII (0.5, 1.5 or 4.5 mg/kg/day, respectively). Ten normal rats received vehicle and served as control. Four weeks later, sperm parameters, histopathological changes, testicular lipid peroxidation, antioxidant enzyme activities, and apoptosis index (AI) were evaluated.
Results: Results showed that ICAII treatment resulted in a significant recovery of sperm parameters and histopathological changes relative to the vehicle group (P<0.05). In the vehicle group, antioxidant enzyme activities and the expression of Sertoli cell Vimentin filaments obviously decreased, while lipid peroxidation and AI significantly increased as compared with the control group (P<0.05). Following ICAII treatment, corrective effects on these items towards normal levels were observed.
Conclusions: The results suggested that ICAII has beneficial effect on the preservation of spermatogenic function in the STZ-induced diabetic rats. The mechanisms might be related to its improvement of antioxidant enzyme activities, preservation of the protein expression and apical extensions of Vimentin filaments, and anti-apoptosis capability.
