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
. 2022 Jun 30:2022:6266613.
doi: 10.1155/2022/6266613. eCollection 2022.

Comparative Potential of Zinc Sulfate, L-Carnitine, Lycopene, and Coenzyme Q10 on Cadmium-Induced Male Infertility

Ayesha Iftikhar  1 , Muhammad Furqan Akhtar  1 , Ammara Saleem  2 , Amjad Riaz  3 , Mehrukh Zehravi  4 , Md Habibur Rahman  5   6 , Ghulam Md Ashraf  7   8
Affiliations

Comparative Potential of Zinc Sulfate, L-Carnitine, Lycopene, and Coenzyme Q10 on Cadmium-Induced Male Infertility

Ayesha Iftikhar et al. Int J Endocrinol. .

Abstract

The human exposure to toxic chemicals and heavy metals is one of the main predisposing factors contributing to male infertility. Acute exposure to cadmium chloride results in testicular damage and infertility. The purpose of the present study was to investigate and compare the curative effect of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), lycopene, L-carnitine (LC), and zinc sulfate against the cadmium-induced infertility in male Wistar rats. Cadmium chloride (0.4 mg/kg/day) was orally administered to rats for three consecutive days. Then, oral administration of different treatments (i.e., LC 100 mg/kg, CoQ10 20 mg/kg, lycopene 4 mg/kg, zinc sulfate 6 mg/kg, and a combination LC-CoQ10 at 500/50 mg/kg) was carried out for 30 days. The impact of different treatments on semen parameters, such as sperm count and motility, testicular antioxidants, and serum testosterone, was determined. Furthermore, the morphology of epididymis sperms and histopathology of rat testes were also assessed. Cadmium exposure decreased the sperm count, progressive sperm motility, testosterone, superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase and reduced glutathione (GSH). It also caused banana sperm tail, bent sperm head, vacuolization of seminiferous tubules, and oligospermia in rat testes. All treatments with nutraceuticals improved sperm count, sperm morphology, serum testosterone, vacuolization of seminiferous tubules, and oligospermia in diseased rats. Treatment with lycopene, LC, and LC-CoQ10 improved progressive sperm motility and other parameters and increased SOD, GSH, and CAT in the rat testes. CoQ10 also increased SOD activity in rat testes' tissue homogenates. It is concluded from the current study that all nutraceuticals partially improved reproductive toxicity of cadmium. The administration of lycopene and a high-dose combination of LC-CoQ10 were more efficacious in treating cadmium-induced infertility than other treatments. Treatment of cadmium-exposed rats with lycopene, LC, CoQ10, and LC-CoQ10 improved sperm count and motility through reduction of testicular oxidative stress and improving serum testosterone.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Effect of lycopene, L-carnitine, coenzyme Q10, and zinc sulfate on sperm count and viability of cadmium-exposed rats. Results presented as mean ± S.D. (n = 10). ∗∗∗and ##showed statistically significant as compared to disease control and normal control at P< 0.001 and P<0.01 respectively.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effect of lycopene, L-carnitine, coenzyme Q10, and zinc sulfate on sperm motility of cadmium-exposed rats. Results presented as mean ± S.D. (n = 10). ∗∗∗∗, ∗∗∗, ∗∗ and ∗ showed statistically significant as compared to diseased control at P< 0.0001, 0.001, 0.01 and 0.05 respectively. (a) Total motility. (b) Progressive motility. (c) Progressive fast motility. (d) Progressive slow motility. (e) Progressive circular motility. (f) Local motility.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Effect of lycopene, L-carnitine, coenzyme Q10, and zinc sulfate on sperm morphology of cadmium-exposed rats at 100x resolution. (a) Normal control. (b) Disease control. (c) L-Carnitine/coenzyme Q10 treated. (d) Lycopene treated. (e) L-carnitine treated. (f) Zinc sulfate treated. (g) Coenzyme Q10.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Effect of lycopene, L-carnitine, coenzyme Q10, and zinc sulfate on serum testosterone of cadmium-exposed rats.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Effect of lycopene, L-carnitine, coenzyme Q10, and zinc sulfate on oxidative stress in testicles of cadmium-exposed rats. Results presented as mean ± S.D. (n = 10). ∗∗∗∗, ∗∗∗, ∗∗ and ∗ showed statistically significant as compared to disease control at P< 0.0001, 0.001, 0.01 and 0.05 respectively, while #### and ## showed statistically significant compared to normal control at P<0.0001 and 0.01 respectively. (a) Superoxide dismutase. (b) Catalase. (c) Reduced glutathione.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Histological photomicrographs of cadmium-exposed rat testes treated with zinc chloride, lycopene, coenzyme Q10, and L-carnitine. (a) Normal control group. (b) Disease control group. (c) Zinc chloride. (d) Coenzyme Q10. (e) Lycopene. (f) L-Carnitine. (g) Coenzyme Q10 and L-carnitine treated group, whereas “L” showed seminal tubule, “G” germinal epithelium, and ∗ shows vacuole formation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Abu-Naser S. S. Male infertility expert system diagnoses and treatment. American Journal of Innovative Research and Applied Sciences . 2016;7:1–12.
    1. Sharlip I. D., Jarow J. P., Belker A. M., et al. Best practice policies for male infertility. Fertility and Sterility . 2002;77(5):873–882. doi: 10.1016/s0015-0282(02)03105-9. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Wagner H., Cheng J. W., Ko E. Y. Role of reactive oxygen species in male infertility: an updated review of literature. Arab Journal of Urology . 2018;16(1):35–43. doi: 10.1016/j.aju.2017.11.001. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Moskovic D. J., Katz D. J., Akhavan A., Park K., Mulhall J. P. Clomiphene citrate is safe and effective for long-term management of hypogonadism. BJU International . 2012;110(10):1524–1528. doi: 10.1111/j.1464-410x.2012.10968.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Resteghini C., Cavalieri S., Galbiati D., et al. Management of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) side effects in differentiated and medullary thyroid cancer patients. Best Practice & Research Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism . 2017;31(3):349–361. doi: 10.1016/j.beem.2017.04.012. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources