Abstract

Objective To study the effect of fluctuation of Th1,Th2 cytokines IFN-γ,IL-4 and nitric oxide on spermatogenic cells in male rats after Toxoplasma infection.Methods 132 male SD-rats(9-10 week)were randomly divided into three groups:negative control group,low dose infection group( 1 × l02 tachyzoites)and high dose infection group ( 1 × 104 tachyzoites ). Four rats of control group and infection groups were excuted on the 0,3,6,9...and 30 day after infection,then the levels of serum IFN-γ,IL-4,NO were detected,the pathology of spermatogenic cells examined and sperms counted. Results IFN-γ in serum increased significantly in infection groups,low dose infection group and high dose infection group reaching the peak on 6 d,respectively (286.3 ±45.3) pg/ml and (506.6 ±34.3) pg/ml ; NO in serum increased significantly too,high dose group on 9 d(77.7 ± 7.0)μmol/L while low dose group got to peak on 12 d( 59.5 ± 5.3 ) μmol/L,then both decreased rapidly.IL-4 in serum of infection groups rats increased gradully,low dose group(233.3 ±36.9) pg/ml and high dose group(366.7 ±52.4) pg/ml reaching the peak on 15 d and then deceased.However,the levels of above cytokines did not return to normal till the termination of experiment.Pathological examination showed clear seminiferous tubules layers and rich cells in nomal control group rats with sperm counted 175.7 + 23.7,while in infection group rats' seminiferous tubules layers were in disorder and spermatocytes,spermatids reduced significantly,which counted as low dose group ( 84.5 + 23.5) and high dose group (47.3 +14.7) to valley value on 15 d.Those changes did not recover at the end of the experiment.Conclusion Toxoplasma gondii infection led to Th1 cytokines IFN-γ polarization and NO increasing in early stage,followed by Th2 cytokine IL-4 increasing reactively.As a result,spermatogenic cells mainly spermatocytes were damaged and spermatogenesis impaired. Key words: Toxoplasma gondii; Th1/Th2 ; Nitric oxide ; Spermatogenic cells

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