Effect of Gadolinium Orthovanadate Nanoparticles on Male Rabbits' Reproductive Performance under Oxidative Stress

Abstract

Oxidative stress as a leading factor of male infertility requires correction with modern pharmacological agents, particularly redox-active nanoparticles, to improve sperm quality and hormonal balance. The current experimental study aimed to investigate the effect of orthovanadate nanoparticles of rare earth elements, particularly Gadolinium, with pronounced redox properties on the reproductive function of male rabbits under oxidative stress. A total of 36 mature male Hyla rabbits were divided into three groups of intact control (n = 12) and two experimental groups, including rabbits ubder oxidative stress (n = 12), induced by the introduction of tert-Butyl hydroperoxide, and those under oxidative stress plus hydrosol of gadolinium orthovanadate nanoparticles (NPs, n = 12) intake for 14 days. There were four rabbits per three replicates in each group. Animals of all groups were kept on the same diet and had free access to water. The use of NPs led to an improvement in sperm quality indicators. There was an improvement in motility and ejaculate volume indicators (by 14.6% and 39.2%, respectively), a reduction of the content of morphologically abnormal sperm by 26.7%; normalization of sex hormones, an increase in the level of total testosterone (by 113%) with a decrease in 17-β-estradiol (by 16.5%). This sex hormones improvement led to an increase in the androgen saturation of the rabbit’s body (free androgen index at the end of the experiment was 36.5%). The obtained changes were accompanied by a decrease in the oxidative load, as evidenced by a reduced content of diene conjugates and thio-barbituric acid-reactive compounds in the blood serum of rabbits by 30.4% and 26.8%, compared to the control. At the same time, there was an increase in the antioxidant potential, especially its glutathione link – the activity of glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase (by 42.5% and 34.2%, respectively), and the content of reduced glutathione increased by 62.3%, compared to the indicators before the introduction of NPs. The results of the study confirmed the effectiveness of using gadolinium orthovanadate NPs to correct the reproductive function of males under oxidative stress.