Hordeum vulgare L. microgreen mitigates reproductive dysfunction and oxidative stress in streptozotocin-induced diabetes and aflatoxicosis in male rats

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM) is a common chronic disease worldwide, which may be due to increased environmental pollution. Aflatoxin B1 is a likely inevitable contaminant in food and dairy products. Both DM and aflatoxicosis exert a deleterious effect on reproduction urging the exploration of various functional food for protection. This study investigated the effect of barley microgreen (BM) on reproductive disorders caused by DM with or without aflatoxicosis in male rats. Rats were divided into eight groups; G1 control, G2 barley, G3 aflatoxin, G4 aflatoxin-barley, G5 streptozotocin (STZ), G6 STZ-barley, G7 STZ-aflatoxin, and G8 STZ-aflatoxin-barley. BM chemical composition revealed elevated calcium, iron, phosphorus, and vitamin A compared with barely seeds. Complete blood picture, lipid profile, serum oxidative stress parameters, relative testicular weight, sperm analysis, chromosomal aberration, and testis histopathology were performed. The lipid profile was altered significantly in G7. Oxidative stress was increased in G3, G5, and G7, whereas it was decreased in BM-treated groups. Sperm counts were reduced significantly in aflatoxin and/or STZ groups but increased significantly in BM-treated groups. Sperm morphological abnormalities and chromosomal aberrations were decreased significantly in BM-treated groups compared with untreated groups. Testicular histopathology revealed moderate diffuse degeneration of seminiferous tubules in aflatoxin and/or STZ groups, which were alleviated in BM-treated groups. In conclusion, aflatoxin and STZ together caused severe reproductive disorder and oxidative stress more than aflatoxin or STZ alone. BM diet reduced significantly oxidative stress and reproductive disorder associated with DM and aflatoxicosis in rats.

Keywords: aflatoxin; barley; chromosomal aberration histopathology; diabetes; sperm analysis.

FIGURE 1

Spermatogenic damage in different groups. BM, Barley microgreen; STZ, Streptozotocin

FIGURE 2

Frequencies of sperm abnormality in the different groups. BM, Barley microgreen; STZ, Streptozotocin

FIGURE 3

Histopathology of rat testis. (a) Well‐organized seminiferous tubules with normal germinal epithelium in G1 (control) and (b) G2 (BM group). (c) Moderate diffuse degeneration, decrease in the thickness of lining epithelium, and vacuolation of Sertoli cells in G3 (aflatoxin group). (d) Mild degeneration of seminiferous tubules in G4 (aflatoxin‐BM group). (e) Thinning of the lining epithelium and desquamated spermatocytes and early spermatids in the lumen in G5, (f) partially alleviation of testicular lesions in G6, (g) severe diffuse degeneration in the seminiferous tubules and intraluminal infiltration of homogenous hyalinized eosinophilic material in G7 (STZ‐aflatoxin), (h) mild degeneration of seminiferous tubules in G8 (STZ‐aflatoxin and BM groups). H and E stain ×200

FIGURE 4

(a) Boxplot of Johnsen's score of spermatogenesis. The interquartile range (IQR) is represented by boxes. The medians are the thick middle lines. The thin horizontal lines at the top and bottom represent the maximum and minimum values. (b) Chart showing the epithelial thickness lining seminiferous tubules in different groups. Columns bearing different lowercase superscripts are significant at a p‐value ≤ 0.05