Role of Vitamin C and E on Sperm Abnormality and Sperm Count in Cadmium Treated Swiss Mice.

Abstract

In spite of the principal applications of Cadmium (Cd) in a variety of consumer and industrial based materials, the metal, during the recent past, has been branded as a potent environmental pollutant causing serious health hazards to almost all the organisms of the biosphere including human beings. The extensive mutagenic and carcinogenic spectrum of the metal, has warranted the humanity to restrict the undesired and abuse of the metal so as to save the planet from its dangerous clutches. The main objective of the present study is to demonstrate the effects of Cd on male germinal cells, the progenitor of sperm. The study reveals the generation of significantly higher quantities of reactive oxygen species(ROS) in Cd-treated Swiss mice testes which have detrimentally affected the germ cells consequently posing significant decline in sperm count compared to the untreated controls. Furthermore, the ROS generated through Cd catalysis have affected developing germ cells so as to produce varieties of morphologically abnormal sperm, the frequency of which increased significantly in Cd-treated mice than the controls. However, supplementation of vitamin C and E to Cd-treated mice, drastically reduced the generation of ROS, thereby significantly escalating sperm count and declining the frequency of abnormal sperm population. The study emphasises the possible role of the ROS in inducing sperm abnormality by way of altering specific gene loci in germ cell chromosomes. The probable role of the aforementioned vitamins in relieving the ROS-related injury to the germ cells has been discussed.