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
. 2020 Dec;44(12):e13505.
doi: 10.1111/jfbc.13505. Epub 2020 Oct 12.

Ferulic acid influences Nrf2 activation to restore testicular tissue from cadmium-induced oxidative challenge, inflammation, and apoptosis in rats

Rami B Kassab  1   2 , Maha S Lokman  3 , Hamid M A Daabo  4 , Dalia A Gaber  5 , Ola A Habotta  6 , Mohamed M Hafez  7 , Ahmed S Zhery  8 , Ahmed E Abdel Moneim  1 , Manar S Fouda  9
Affiliations

Ferulic acid influences Nrf2 activation to restore testicular tissue from cadmium-induced oxidative challenge, inflammation, and apoptosis in rats

Rami B Kassab et al. J Food Biochem. 2020 Dec.

Abstract

Here, we examined the protective effect of ferulic acid (FA) on cadmium chloride (CdCl2 )-mediated reproductive toxicity in male rats. Animals were divided into four groups: control, FA (20 mg/kg), CdCl2 (6.5 mg/kg), and FA + CdCl2 . CdCl2 treatment evoked a significant increase in testis cadmium concentration in addition to obvious increase in testosterone, luteinizing hormone, and follicle-stimulating hormone levels. Moreover, CdCl2 -induced oxidative damage through exhausting the cellular defenses (superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, and glutathione) and downregulating the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) expression accompanied by increases of malondialdehyde and nitric oxide contents. Testicular inflammation was evident indicated by increased levels of interleukin-1β and tumor necrosis factor-α in CdCl2 -treated rats. CdCl2 exposure also decreased the expression of the proliferating cell nuclear antigen and augmented apoptotic events associated with prominent histopathological alterations. However, FA coadministration mitigated the impaired hormonal level, apoptotic and inflammatory injuries elicited by CdCl2, and maintained the oxidant/antioxidant balance in testicular tissue via Nrf2 activation. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Cadmium is an environmental toxicant and known to cause adverse effects including reproductive toxicity. However, antioxidant application has been found to protect against heavy metals-mediated toxic effects. Here, we examined the potential protective efficacy of ferulic acid against cadmium-mediated testicular impairments through estimating the amount of cadmium in the testis, hormonal profile, oxidative status, inflammatory response, apoptotic and proliferating markers in addition to the histopathological alterations. The obtained findings revealed that ferulic acid supplementation was able to abolish the testicular damages coupled with cadmium exposure. The protective efficiency of ferulic acid may correlated with its strong antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiapoptotic activities; suggesting that ferulic acid may be used to ameliorate cadmium-induced testicular deficits.

Keywords: Nrf2; cadmium; ferulic acid; oxidative stress; rats; reproductive toxicity.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Adefegha, S. A., Omojokun, O. S., Oboh, G., Fasakin, O., & Ogunsuyi, O. (2016). Modulatory effects of ferulic acid on cadmium-induced brain damage. Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine, 21(4), NP56-NP61. https://doi.org/10.1177/2156587215621726
    1. Adeyemi, O. S., Atolani, O., Banerjee, P., Arolasafe, G., Preissner, R., Etukudoh, P., & Ibraheem, O. (2018). Computational and experimental validation of antioxidant properties of synthesized bioactive ferulic acid derivatives. International Journal of Food Properties, 21(1), 86-98. https://doi.org/10.1080/10942912.2018.1439958
    1. Almeer, R. S., Alarifi, S., Alkahtani, S., Ibrahim, S. R., Ali, D., & Moneim, A. (2018). The potential hepatoprotective effect of royal jelly against cadmium chloride-induced hepatotoxicity in mice is mediated by suppression of oxidative stress and upregulation of Nrf2 expression. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, 106, 1490-1498. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopha.2018.07.089
    1. Almeer, R. S., AlBasher, G. I., Alarifi, S., Alkahtani, S., Ali, D., & Abdel Moneim, A. E. (2019). Royal jelly attenuates cadmium-induced nephrotoxicity in male mice. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 5825. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-42368-7
    1. Almeer, R. S., & Ahmed Moneim, A. E. (2018). Evaluation of the protective effect of olive leaf extract on cisplatin-induced testicular damage in rats. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, 2018, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/8487248

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources