Asian Pacific Journal of Reproduction

255-260

Authors: Nandini Sharma, Shiva Pratap Singh, Alok Bharadwaj, Ramachandran Natesan

Early diagnosis of pregnancy plays an important role to minimize reproductive losses in farm animals. There are several methods for pregnancy diagnosis like profiling of reproductive hormones (such as progesterone and estrone sulfate), but sometimes they provide false-positive results. Embryo specific pregnancy markers, which delineate the presence and viability of the embryo, are considered as perfect for pregnancy determination. Pregnancy-associated glycoproteins are distinguished as the best indicator for the determination of early pregnancy, fetal number, and birth weight of kids. Pregnancy-associated glycoproteins are structurally correlated to aspartic proteinase and are communicated in the external epithelial cell layer of the placenta. They have been found to share about half amino acid sequence identity with pepsinogen, pepsin, cathepsin D and E. Dislike different individuals from aspartic proteinase family, numerous pregnancy-associated glycoproteins appear to be latent compound as a result of amino acid substitutions in and around the catalytic site. This review is to discuss the scope and prospects of pregnancy-associated glycoproteins as a pregnancy marker in farm animals, more specifically in goats.

267-274

Authors: Dibyendu Ray, Sunidhi Roy, Pradip Panda, Partha Nandi, Sandip Mukherjee, Subrata Ghosh

Objective: To investigate the effect of Camellia (C.) sinensis in mitigating oxidative damage and reproductive toxicity in testis induced by sodium fluoride in a rat model. Methods: Twenty-four adult male Wister rats were divided into 4 groups, with 6 rats in each group. Group 1 orally received distilled water (1 mL/100 g body weight) daily and served as the control group, while group 2 received drinking water with 100 ppm sodium fluoride per day for 21 consecutive days, group 3 was administered with only C. sinensis extract by gavage at a dose of 100 mg/kg body weight and group 4 received drinking water with 100 ppm sodium fluoride and 100 mg/kg body weight C. sinensis leaf extract per day for 21 consecutive days. At the end of the treatment, the rats were sacrificed under light ether anesthesia. The gonado-somatic index, sperm count and motility, serum level of luteinizing hormone and testosterone were assayed. Lipid peroxidation [malondialdehyde (MDA) level], nitric oxide (NO) production, and activities of antioxidant enzymes - superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, and reduced glutathione level (GSH) were also analysed. Results: Sodium fluoride treatment significantly decreased gonadosomatic index, sperm count and motility as well as the serum level of luteinizing hormone and testosterone (P<0.05). The histological examination of testes revealed atrophy and degenerative changes in several seminiferous tubules, along with enhanced interstitial space and a reduced number of Leydig cells. There was a highly significant increase in NO and MDA production (P<0.05), while SOD, catalase activities and GSH level decreased significantly (P<0.05). However, C. sinensis significantly restored testicular weight, sperm parameter, hormonal level (P<0.05), and also reversed MDA and NO generation and antioxidant enzymes activities in the testicular tissue (P<0.05). Conclusions: C. sinensis may have an ameliorative role against sodium fluoride-induced oxidative damage in the testis probably because of its antioxidant property.

283-290

Authors: Wahab Adekunle Oyeyemi, Oore-oluwapo Ololade Daramola, Adeniran Oluwadamilare Akinola, Adeoye Oyewole Idris, Ikponmwosa Aikpitanyi

Objective: To investigate the hepatic and reproductive toxicity of dichlorvos and lead acetate on male Wistar rats. Methods: Fifteen adult male Wistar rats (170-190 g) were randomly divided into three groups, with 5 rats in each group. Group 1 received 0.5 mL distilled water orally and served as the control group, while groups 2 and 3 were orally treated with 2 mg/kg body weight (b.w.) dichlorvos and 10 mg/kg b.w. lead acetate, respectively, for 55 days. Epididymal sperm, serum follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), testosterone concentrations, testicular 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity (17β-HSD), androgen receptor expression, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), testicular oxidant and antioxidant enzymes were evaluated with standard methods. Results: Sperm count, motility, morphology, FSH, LH, testosterone levels, 17β-HSD, androgen receptor expression, and catalase activity were significantly reduced in the dichlorvos and lead acetate treated groups as compared with the control group (P<0.05). The liver AST, ALT activities and malondialdehyde concentration were significantly increased in the dichlorvos and lead acetate treated groups as compared with the control group (P<0.05). Conclusions: The reproductive and hepatic toxicity activities of dichlorvos and lead acetate in male Wistar rats are similar.

298-304

Authors: Ali Talebi, Shadan Navid, Maryam Borhani-Haghighi, Yumi Hoshino, Mehdi Abbasi, Zahra Khosravizadeh

Objective: To investigate the effects of soft agar on in-vitro proliferation of neonate mouse spermatogonial stem cells cocultured with Sertoli cells. Methods: Tissues of neonate NMRI male mice testes were used for harvesting spermatogonial stem cells and Sertoli cells. After cell harvest, flow cytometry using promyelocytic leukemia zinc-finger (PLZF) protein antibody was used to assess the purity of the cells. The isolated testicular cells were cultured in the absence (the control group) or presence of soft agar-coated dishes (the experimental group) supplemented with leukemia inhibitory factor and glia cell line–derived neurotrophic factor for two weeks. Alkaline phosphatase activity was assessed in the colonies formed after two weeks of culture by alkaline phosphatase staining. On day 14 of culture, the expression levels of DNA-binding protein inhibitor (ID-4) and PLZF genes in the undifferentiated cells were evaluated by the detection of PLZF protein antibody using real-time PCR and immunocytochemistry techniques. The number and diameter of the colonies of spermatogonial stem cells were assessed by ImageJ software. Results: In the experimental group, the number and the diameter of colonies significantly increased as compared with those in the control group (P<0.05, P<0.01, respectively). In addition, the level of expression of ID-4 and PLZF genes in the undifferentiated cells significantly increased in the experimental group as compared with the control group (P<0.01). However, the expression of tyrosineprotein kinase kit (c-kit) gene in differentiated cells decreased in the experimental group as compared with the control group, but there was no significant difference between the two groups. Conclusions: Spermatogonial stem cells can be efficiently proliferated by culturing the stem cells in soft agar-coated dishes. The new protocol used in this study can be a valuable method for future studies.