Prophylactic Protective Effects and Its Potential Mechanisms of IcarisideII on Streptozotocin Induced Spermatogenic Dysfunction

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of IcarisideII(ICAII) on the prevention of streptozotocin (STZ) induced spermatogenic dysfunction. 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 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. 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.