Abstract
Acrylamide (AA) is a toxic and carcinogenic compound produced in cooking process. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) on extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) gene expression level and ovarian histopathological changes in AA-treated rats. Thirty-six female adult Wistar rats were randomly divided into 6 groups including control, positive control (+VE Con), negative control (-VE Con), experimental 1 (Exp1), experimental 2 (Exp2) and experimental 3 (Exp3). Twenty eight days after the treatment, ERK gene expression level was measured by real-time PCR method and ovarian histopathological changes were evaluated. The ERK gene expression level was significantly decreased in the +VE Con, Exp1 and Exp2 groups as compared to the control group (p˂0.05), but not in the -VE Con and Exp3 groups (p˃0.05). Histologically, the +VE Con group showed a significant decrease in the number of primary, secondary and Graafian follicles as well as corpus luteum as compared to the control group (p˂0.05), but not in the negative, Exp2 and Exp3 groups (p˃0.05). In the Exp1 group, the number of primary and secondary follicles as well as corpus luteum significantly decreased (p˂0.05), however, the numbers of Graafian follicle and the corpus luteum were significantly increased as compared to the +VE Con group (p˂0.05). The AA was supposed to increase the apoptosis and folliculogenesis degradation in the rat ovarian tissue by decreasing ERK gene expression. Administration of NAC ameliorated the deleterious effects of AA in a dose-dependent manner and improve folliculogenesis by reducing apoptosis level. Thus, the NAC supplement could be helpful in ameliorating animal fertility.
Highlights
Nowadays, with the change in lifestyles and diets, manufacturers are increasingly focused on fried foods, so that heating food at high temperatures is a common way of producing processed foods
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) on extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) gene expression level and ovarian histopathological changes in AA-treated rats
The rats were randomly divided into 6 groups of 6 rats i.e. control, positive control (+VE Con), negative control (-VE Con), experimental 1 (Exp1), experimental 2 (Exp2) and experimental 3 (Exp3)
Summary
With the change in lifestyles and diets, manufacturers are increasingly focused on fried foods, so that heating food at high temperatures is a common way of producing processed foods. Heat processes are one of the most important ways for preserving foods that improve some food properties, it seems that these processes are capable of forming a wide range of toxic compounds such as acrylamide (AA) (Proietti et al 2014). Acrylamide can induce oxidative stress and reactive oxygen species by decreasing the capacity of the antioxidant system, thereby reducing glutathione levels and increasing lipids peroxidation (Zhang et al 2011a). Active oxygen species play a key role in important biological processes such as cell apoptosis, meiosis restart, and aging. Increased levels of reactive oxygen species are associated with decreased intracellular oxidation-regeneration reactions, thereby increasing apoptosis (Duan et al 2015). Proper ERK activity induces the survival and inhibition of cell apoptosis and its overexpression causes cancer, but under certain conditions can have a pro-apoptotic function (Cagnol & Chambard 2010; Sumizawa & Igisu 2007)
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