article · International Journal of Molecular Sciences
Diabetes mellitus can lead to severe testicular deterioration and impaired spermatogenesis. An investigation using male Wistar rats evaluated how thymoquinone protects against diabetes-induced testicular damage over a twelve-week period. Diabetic rats received daily oral doses of thymoquinone, comparing outcomes against untreated diabetic and non-diabetic controls. The treatment significantly improved sperm parameters and reduced markers of oxidative stress, specifically nitric oxide and malondialdehyde levels, within testicular tissue. Concurrently, thymoquinone raised levels of protective reduced glutathione and boosted superoxide dismutase activity. At the molecular level, the compound downregulated inflammatory markers including inducible nitric oxide synthase and nuclear factor kappa-B, whilst upregulating aromatase protein expression. Overall, thymoquinone exerted protective actions against diabetes-related reproductive dysfunction through combined antioxidant, hypoglycaemic, anti-inflammatory mechanisms, and the restoration of testicular aromatase expression.
Diabetes mellitus frequently causes male reproductive dysfunction and impaired fertility through oxidative tissue damage and inflammation. Demonstrating that thymoquinone improves sperm quality while suppressing inflammatory and oxidative pathways in animal models offers valuable insight into cellular mechanisms and biological targets for addressing diabetes-induced male infertility.
This work represents early-stage preclinical research in animal models, identifying thymoquinone as an active compound for mitigating diabetes-associated reproductive dysfunction. Potential applications could eventually inform therapeutic development or nutraceutical formulations targeting male fertility in diabetic populations. However, the abstract indicates only laboratory animal testing, meaning extensive further preclinical validation and clinical trials are required before any commercial or clinical adoption by healthcare providers or pharmaceutical developers.
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Antioxidants have valuable effects on the process of spermatogenesis, particularly with diabetes mellitus (DM). Therefore, the present study investigated the impact and the intracellular mechanisms by which thymoquinone (TQ) works against diabetes-induced testicular deteriorations in rats. Wistar male rats (<i>n</i> = 60) were randomly allocated into four groups; Control, Diabetic (streptozotocin (STZ)-treated rats where diabetes was induced by intraperitoneal injection of STZ, 65 mg/kg), Diabetic + TQ (diabetic rats treated with TQ (50 mg/kg) orally once daily), and TQ (non-diabetic rats treated with TQ) for 12 weeks. Results revealed that TQ significantly improved the sperm parameters with a reduction in nitric oxide (NO) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in testicular tissue. Also, it increased testicular reduced glutathione (GSH) levels and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity. Interestingly, TQ induced downregulation of testicular inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) and significantly upregulated the aromatase protein expression levels in testicles in comparison with the diabetic rats. In conclusion, TQ treatment exerted a protective effect against reproductive dysfunction induced by diabetes not only through its powerful antioxidant and hypoglycemic effects but also through its downregulation of testicular iNOS and NF-κB along with upregulation of aromatase expression levels in diabetic rats.
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DOI: 10.3390/ijms18050919
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