Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 May;19(2):207-14.
doi: 10.4103/0971-6580.97224.

Rutin Ameliorates Cyclophosphamide-induced Reproductive Toxicity in Male Rats

S O Abarikwu  1 , C A Otuechere, M Ekor, K Monwuba, D Osobu
Affiliations

Rutin Ameliorates Cyclophosphamide-induced Reproductive Toxicity in Male Rats

S O Abarikwu et al. Toxicol Int. 2012 May.

Abstract

Cyclophosphamide (CYC) as an anticancer alkylating agent has been known as a male reproductive toxicant. This study was aimed to evaluate the protective effect of rutin (RUT) on CYC-induced reproductive toxicity. Sexually mature Wistar rats (weighing 199 ± 10 g with five animals in each group) were given CYC (15 mg/kg) and/or RUT (30 mg/kg) twice a week via gavage for 4 weeks. The sperm counts, sperm motility, sperm morphology, daily sperm production (DSP), testicular, and epididymal antioxidant systems: superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), reduced glutathione (GSH), glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione-S-transferase (GST), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), malondialdehyde (MDA), and testicular steroidogenic enzymes (3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and 17β-HSD and spermatogenesis marker enzymes (lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), sorbitol dehydrogenase (SDH), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), acid phosphatase (ACP) in the testes, epididymis and seminal vesicles were investigated at the end of the fourth week. By the end of the fourth week, RUT prevented lower sperm counts, sperm motility, DSP, and higher abnormal sperm numbers induced by CYC. In testes, RUT decreased SOD, LDH, and SDH and increased CAT, 3β-HSD, 17β-HSD, ALP, and ACP induced by CYC. In epididymis, RUT increased SOD, CAT, GSH, GSH-Px, GR, GST SDH, ALP and ACP and decreased MDA and LDH induced by CYC. In seminal vesicles, marker enzymes were unchanged in rats given CYC alone or in combination with RUT. It appears that RUT ameliorates CYC reproductive toxicity at the investigated dose.

Keywords: Antioxidant system; cyclophosphamide; rats; reproductive toxicity; rutin; sperms.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activity and Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in the testis and epididymis of cyclophosphamide (CYC) and rutin (RUT) treated rats. Values are mean ± SD for five rats in each group. Values are statistically significant at P < 0.05. *comparison of control and CYC-treated group; **comparison of CYC-treated group with RUT plus CYC-treated group
Figure 2
Figure 2
Glutathione (GSH) level, and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), glutathione reductase (GR), and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activity in the testis and epididymis of cyclophosphamide (CYC) and rutin (RUT) treated rats. Values are mean ± SD for five rats in each group. Values are statistically significant at P < 0.05. *comparison of control and CYC-treated group; **comparison of CYC-treated group with RUT plus CYC-treated group
Figure 3
Figure 3
Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), sorbitol dehydrogenase (SDH), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and acid phosphatase (ACP) activity in the testis, epididymis and seminal vesicle of cyclophosphamide (CYC) and rutin (RUT) treated rats. Values are mean ± SD for five rats in each group. Values are statistically significant at P < 0.05. *comparison of control and CYC-treated group**comparison of CYC-treated group with RUT plus CYC-treated group
Figure 4
Figure 4
3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3β-HSD) and 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (17β-HSD) activity in the testis of cyclophosphamide (CYC) and rutin (RUT) treated rats. Values are mean ± SD for five rats in each group. Values are statistically significant at P < 0.05. *comparison of control and CYC-treated group; **comparison of CYC-treated group with RUT plus CYC-treated group
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Howell ST, Shalet SM. Testicular function following chemotherapy. Hum Reprod Update. 2001;7:363–9. - PubMed
    1. Meistrich ML. Hormonal stimulation of the recovery of spermatogenesis following chemo-or radiotherapy. APMIS. 2008;106:37–45. discussion 45-6. - PubMed
    1. Lee S, Schmitt CA. Chemotherapy response and resistance. Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2003;13:90–6. - PubMed
    1. Pandse S, Ginsburg E, Singh AK. Strategies for preservation of ovarian and testicular function after immunosuppression. Am J Kidney Dis. 2004;43:772–81. - PubMed
    1. Das UB, Mallick M, Debnath JM, Ghosh D. Protective effect of ascorbic acid on cyclophosphamide-induced testicular gametogenic and androgenic disorders in male rats. Asian J Androl. 2002;4:201–7. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources