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
. 2025 Jan 13;36(1):9.
doi: 10.1007/s10856-024-06857-0.

Protective effect of quercetin loaded on bifunctional periodic mesoporous organosilica against damage induced by irradiation on the male reproductive system

S F Mirtaheri  1 , S N Mousavi  2   3 , Z Abdi  4 , E Hosseini  3   5 , M S Seyed Dorraji  6 , F Kabiri Esfahani  7 , M Gholami  1
Affiliations

Protective effect of quercetin loaded on bifunctional periodic mesoporous organosilica against damage induced by irradiation on the male reproductive system

S F Mirtaheri et al. J Mater Sci Mater Med. .

Abstract

Preserving fertility is important in men under radiation therapy because healthy cells are also affected by radiation. Supplementation with antioxidants is a controversial issue in this process. Designing a biocompatible delivery system containing hydrophobic antioxidants to release control may solve these disagreements. Herein, a bifunctional periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO) was designed to load quercetin (Quer) and its application was studied on damaged cells induced by irradiation on the male reproductive system. Quercetin-loaded on PMO significantly improved the length and width of the testis after irradiation compared to the Quer, alone (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively). Sperm viability was significantly higher in the Quer-loaded on PMO than Quer, alone after irradiation (p < 0.001). Irradiation significantly decreased the sperm count (p = 0.01), however, Quer and Quer-loaded on PMO could not increase them to the normal ranges. Quer alone and loaded on PMO significantly reduced the sperm with abnormal morphology after irradiation (p < 0.001). Quer alone, and loaded on PMO significantly increased daily production of sperm after irradiation (p < 0.001). The number of apoptotic cells significantly increased after irradiation (p < 0.001). After irradiation, Quer loaded on PMO significantly decreased the apoptotic cells compared to the irradiated (p < 0.001) and Quer, alone groups (p < 0.001). The novel synthesized PMO containing Quer reduced the side effects of irradiation on the male reproductive system.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Compliance with ethical standards. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms (a) and BJH Pore size distributions (b) for PMO and Quer@PMO
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
SEM images of PMO (a) and Quer@PMO (b)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Calibration curve for determining the concentration of quercetin in the supernatant
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
TG analysis of PMO (green line), Quer@PMO (red line)
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Percentages of spermatogonia, Sertoli cell, and other spermatogenic cell stages (spermatocytes, spermatids, and mature spermatozoa) and corresponding histology of the testis in the studied groups SCO: Sertoli cell only; SC: Sertoli cell; SPG: SpermatogoniaSPC: Spermatogenic cells; NC: negative control who received normal saline; PMO: rats who received organosilicon nanoparticle (3 mg) without irradiation; Quer: rats who received quercetin (5 mg) without irradiation; PMO + Quer: rats who received Quer loaded on PMO without irradiation; Ir: positive control who received irradiation; Ir + PMO: rats who received organosilicon nanoparticle (3 mg) after irradiation; Ir + Quer: rats who received Quer (5 mg) after irradiation; Ir + PMO + Quer: rats who received Quer loaded on PMO, after irradiation. All interventions were performed as an intraperitoneal injection in a daily order for 14 days
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Sung H, Ferlay J, Siegel RL, Laversanne M, Soerjomataram I, Jemal A, et al. Global cancer statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J Clin. 2021;71:209–49. - PubMed
    1. Baskar R, Lee KA, Yeo R, Yeoh KW. Cancer and radiation therapy: current advances and future directions. Int J Med Sci. 2012;9:193–9. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Giap H, Giap B. Historical perspective and evolution of charged particle beam therapy. Transl Cancer Res 2012;1:127–36.
    1. Niemantsverdriet M, van Goethem M-J, Bron R, Hogewerf W, Brandenburg S, Langendijk JA, et al. High and low LET radiation differentially induce normal tissue damage signals. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2012;83:1291–7. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sage E, Shikazono N. Radiation-induced clustered DNA lesions: repair and mutagenesis. Free Radic Biol Med. 2017;107:125–35. - DOI - PubMed

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources