Abstract
This study aims to explore the protective effect of selenium (Se) on chronic zearalenone (ZEN)-induced reproductive system damage in male mice and the possible protective molecular mechanism against this. The chronic ZEN-induced injury mouse model was established with the continuous intragastric administration of 40 mg/kg body mass (B.M.) ZEN for 28 days. Then, interventions with different doses (0.1, 0.2, and 0.4 mg/kg B.M.) of Se were conducted on mice to analyse the changes in organ indexes of epididymis and testis, antioxidant capability of testis, serum level of testosterone, sperm concentration and motility parameters, and the expression levels of apoptosis-associated genes and blood testis barrier- (BTB) related genes. Our results showed that Se could greatly improve the ZEN-induced decrease of epididymis indexes and testis indexes. Results also showed that the decrease in sperm concentration, sperm normality rate, and sperm motility parameters, including percentage of motile sperm (motile), tropism percentage (progressive) and sperm average path velocity (VAP), caused by ZEN were elevated upon administration of the higher dose (0.4 mg/kg) and intermediate dose (0.2 mg/kg) of Se. Selenium also significantly reduced the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) but enhanced the activities of antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) in the testis tissue. Further research demonstrated that ZEN increased the level of mRNA expression of BCL2-associated X protein (Bax) and caspase 3 (Casp3), decreased the level of mRNA expression of B cell leukemia/lymphoma 2 (Bcl2), vimentin (Vim) and cadherin 2 (Cdh2), whereas the co-administration of Se reversed these gene expression levels. Our results indicated that high levels of Se could protect against reproductive system damage in male mice caused by ZEN and the mechanism might such be that Se improved mice antioxidant ability, inhibited reproductive cell apoptosis, and increased the decrease of BTB integrity-related genes caused by ZEN.
Highlights
Zearalenone (ZEN), a macrocyclic β-resorcyclic acid lactone, and a type of mycotoxin, is mainly produced by fungi of the Fusarium genus
In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of Se on chronic ZEN-induced reproductive system damage in male mice and its possible protective mechanisms
The epididymis, and testis, indexes in the Se groups and the Se + ZEN groups were significantly increased compared with the ZEN group (p < 0.05)
Summary
Zearalenone (ZEN), a macrocyclic β-resorcyclic acid lactone, and a type of mycotoxin, is mainly produced by fungi of the Fusarium genus. Previous reviews report that ZEN has adverse effects on human and animal health [4]. ZEN can cause testis damage to varying degrees, induce testicular atrophy and inflammation, and eventually result in decreasing sexual function with the number and quality of sperm decreased [9]. ZEN can remain and accumulate in the body for more than six months. How to reduce the toxicity of ZEN to animals has become a research focus. Studies demonstrated that the one of the mechanisms of ZEN toxicity is by inducing oxidative damage [14,15] and causing cell apoptosis [16,17].
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