Journal of Reproduction & Infertility

Journal of Reproduction & Infertility

The Protective Effect of Vitamin E on Morphological and Biochemical Alteration Induced by Pre and Postnatal Ethanol Administration in the Testis of Male Rat Offspring: A Three Months Follow-up Study

Authors
Alireza Shirpoor 1
Leila Norouzi 1
Mohammad-Hasan Khadem-Ansari 2
Behrouz Ilkhanizadeh 3
Mojtaba Karimipour 4
1 Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran
2 Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran
3 Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran
4 Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran
Abstract
Background: Dysmorphology and dysfunction caused by prenatal ethanol consumption in different organs of the offspring are wellknown phenomena. The objective of the present study was to explore the antioxidant effect of vitamin E supplementation on testis damage induced by maternal ethanol consumption during pregnancy and early postnatal days. Methods: Pregnant Wistar rats on gestation day 7 were assigned to 3 groups, namely, control, ethanol and ethanol-vitamin E groups. Ethanol-treated rats received 4.5 g/kg BW ethanol once per day from day 7 and the procedure continued through postnatal day 21. Vitamin E group received 300 mg of vitamin E and the same amount of ethanol. The male offspring from each group were anesthetized by 10% chloral hydrate (0.5 ml/kg body weight) on day 21 and 90 (n=8 offspring form each group on day 21 and day 90). The results were analyzed by one-way ANOVA. A p<0.05 was considered significant. Results: The results revealed significant (p<0.05) changes in oxidative stress parameters, luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone, as well as testis structural alteration in offspring of ethanol group after 21 and 90 days of birth as compared to the control. Significant amelioration of changes in testis structure, along with restoration of the elevated level of oxidative stress parameters were found in vitamin E-treated animals. Conclusion: The findings revealed that prenatal and postnatal ethanol-induced toxicity in testis was exerted through oxidative stress and implied that these effects could be alleviated by vitamin E as an antioxidant.
Keywords
Ethanol
oxidative stress
Rat
Testis
Vitamin E
Barr HM, Streissguth AP. Identifying maternal self-reported alcohol use associated with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2001;25(2):283-7.
Olson HC, Morse BA, Huffine C. Development and Psychopathology: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Related Conditions. Semin Clin Neuropsychiatry. 1998;3(4):262-84.
Roebuck TM, Mattson SN, Riley EP. A review of the neuroanatomical findings in children with fetal alcohol syndrome or prenatal exposure to alcohol. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 1998;22(2):339-44.
Estrada G, Krasinski SD, Rings EH, Buller HA, Grand RJ, Lopez-Tejero MD. Prenatal ethanol exposure alters the expression of intestinal hydrolase mRNAs in newborn rats. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 1996;20(9):1662-8.
Turcotte LA, Aberle NS, Norby FL, Wang GJ, Ren J. Influence of prenatal ethanol exposure on vascular contractile response in rat thoracic aorta. Alcohol. 2002;26(2):75-81.
Blanchard BA, Hannigan JH. Prenatal ethanol exposure: effects on androgen and nonandrogen dependent behaviors and on gonadal development in male rats. Neurotoxicol Teratol. 1994;16(1):31-9.
Dahlgren IL, Eriksson CJ, Gustafsson B, Harthon C, Hard E, Larsson K. Effects of chronic and acute ethanol treatment during prenatal and early postnatal ages on testosterone levels and sexual behaviors in rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1989;33(4):867-73.
Hard E, Dahlgren IL, Engel J, Larsson K, Liljequist S, Lindh AS, Musi B. Development of sexual behavior in prenatally ethanol-exposed rats. Drug Alcohol Depend. 1984;14(1):51-61.
Anderson RA Jr, Willis BR, Phillips JF, Oswald C, Zaneveld LJ. Delayed pubertal development of the male reproductive tract associated with chronic ethanol ingestion. Biochem Pharmacol. 1987;36(13):2157-67.
Fermoso J, Esquifino AI, Mateos A, Agrasal C, Martin I. Possible role of prolactin in the induction of hypogonadism by chronic alcohol treatment in the male rat. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1988;29(3):489-93.
Bo WJ, Krueger WA, Rudeen PK, Symmes SK. Ethanol-induced alterations in the morphology and function of the rat ovary. Anat Rec. 1982;202(2):255-60.
Lan N, Yamashita F, Halpert AG, Sliwowska JH, Viau V, Weinberg J. Effects of prenatal ethanol exposure on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal function across the estrous cycle. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2009;33(6):1075-88.
Creighton-Taylor JA, Rudeen PK. Prenatal ethanol exposure and opiatergic influence on puberty in the female rat. Alcohol. 1991;8(3):187-91.
Shirpoor A, Salami S, Khadem-Ansari MH, Minassian S, Yegiazarian M. Protective effect of vitamin E against ethanol-induced hyperhomocysteinemia, DNA damage, and atrophy in the developing male rat brain. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2009;33(7):1181-6.
Kaartinen M, Penttilä A, Kovanen PT. Accumulation of activated mast cells in the shoulder region of human coronary atheroma, the predilection site of atheromatous rupture. Circulation. 1994;90(4):1669-78.
Cybulsky MI, Won D, Haidari M. Leukocyte recruitment to atherosclerotic lesions. Can J Cardiol. 2004;20 Suppl B:24B-28B.
Lan N, Yamashita F, Halpert AG, Ellis L, Yu WK, Viau V, et al. Prenatal ethanol exposure alters the effects of gonadectomy on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal activity in male rats. J Neuroendocrinol. 2006;18(9):672-84.
Weinberg J, Kim CK, Yu W. Early handling can attenuate adverse effects of fetal ethanol exposure. Alcohol. 1995;12(4):317-27.
Lan N, Vogl AW, Weinberg J. Prenatal ethanol exposure delays the onset of spermatogenesis in the rat. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2013;37(7):1074-81.
Fakoya FA, Caxton-Martins EA. Morphological alterations in the seminiferous tubules of adult Wistar rats: the effects of prenatal ethanol exposure. Folia Morphol (Warsz). 2004;63(2):195-202.
McGivern RF, Handa RJ, Raum WJ. Ethanol exposure during the last week of gestation in the rat: inhibition of the prenatal testosterone surge in males without long-term alterations in sex behavior. Neurotoxicol Teratol. 1998;20(4):483-90.
Ward IL, Ward OB, French JA, Hendricks SE, Mehan D, Winn RJ. Prenatal alcohol and stress interact to attenuate ejaculatory behavior, but not serum testosterone or LH in adult male rats. Behav Neurosci. 1996;110(6):1469-77.
Udani M, Parker S, Gavaler J, Van Thiel DH. Effects of in utero exposure to alcohol upon male rats. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 1985;9(4):355-9.
Aitken RJ, Clarkson JS, Fishel S. Generation of reactive oxygen species, lipid peroxidation, and human sperm function. Biol Reprod. 1989;41(1):183-97.
Peltola V, Huhtaniemi I, Ahotupa M. Antioxidant enzyme activity in the maturing rat testis. J Androl. 1992;13(5):450-5.
Rajamani R, Muthuvel A, Senthilvelan M, Sheeladevi R. Oxidative stress induced by methotrexate alone and in the presence of methanol in discrete regions of the rodent brain, retina and optic nerve. Toxicol Lett. 2006;165(3):265-73.
Zhu Q, Emanuele MA, LaPaglia N, Kovacs EJ, Emanuele NV. Vitamin E prevents ethanol-induced inflammatory, hormonal, and cytotoxic changes in reproductive tissues. Endocrine. 2007;32(1):59-68.
Taghizadeh Afshari A, Shirpoor A, Farshid A, Saadatian R, Rasmi Y, Saboory E, et al. The effect of ginger on diabetic nephropathy, plasma antioxidant capacity and lipid peroxidation in rats. Food Chem. 2007;101(1):148-53.
Devi BG, Henderson GI, Frosto TA, Schenker S. Effect of ethanol on rat fetal hepatocytes: studies on cell replication, lipid peroxidation and glutathione. Hepatology. 1993;18(3):648-59.
Davis WL, Crawford LA, Cooper OJ, Farmer GR, Thomas DL, Freeman BL. Ethanol induces the generation of reactive free radicals by neural crest cells in vitro. J Craniofac Genet Dev Biol. 1990;10(3):277-93.
Journal of Reproduction & Infertility
Volume 15, Issue 3
Summer 2014
Pages 134-141