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Arsenic-induced toxicity and the protective role of ascorbic acid in mouse testis
Cited 126 time in
Web of Science
Cited 141 time in Scopus
- Authors
- Issue Date
- 2006-11-15
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Citation
- Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol. 218, 196 203
- Keywords
- Arsenic ; Ascorbic acid ; Mouse ; Testis ; Oxidative stress
- Abstract
- Oxidative stress has been suggested to be a major cause of male reproductive failure. Here, we investigated whether arsenic, which impairs
male reproductive functions in rodent models, acts by inducing oxidative stress. Male 8-week-old ICR mice were given drinking water containing
20 or 40 mg/l sodium arsenite with or without 0.75 or 1.5 g/l of the antioxidant ascorbic acid for 5 weeks. The arsenic-treated mice showed
decreased epididymidal sperm counts and testicular weights compared to untreated mice. These effects were reversed in mice that were co-treated
with ascorbic acid. Similarly, arsenic treatment lowered the activities of testicular 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (HSD) and 17β-HSD, which
play important roles in steroidogenesis, and this was reversed by co-treatment with ascorbic acid. The testicles of arsenic-treated mice had
decreased glutathione (GSH) levels (which correlate inversely with the degree of cellular oxidative stress) and elevated levels of protein carbonyl
(a marker of oxidative damage to tissue proteins). Ascorbic acid co-treatment reversed both of these effects. Thus, ascorbic acid blocks both the
adverse effects of arsenic on male reproductive functions and the arsenic-induced testicular oxidative changes. These observations support the
notion that arsenic impairs male reproductive function by inducing oxidative stress.
- ISSN
- 0041-008X
- Language
- English
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