Protective Effect of Decursin Extracted from Angelica gigas in Male Infertility via Nrf2HO-1 Signaling Pathway

Abstract EN

Higher testicular temperature results in altered spermatogenesis due to heat-related oxidative stress.

We examined the effects of decursin extracted from Angelica gigas Nakai on antioxidant activity in vitro and in a cryptorchidism-induced infertility rat model.

TM3 Leydig cell viability was measured based on oxidative stress according to treatment.

Either distilled water or AG 400 mg/kg of A.

gigas extract was administered orally for 4 weeks after unilateral cryptorchidism was induced.

After 1, 2, and 4 weeks, six rats from the control group and six rats from treatment group were sacrificed.

Testicular weight, semen quality, antioxidant activities, nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) protein, and mRNA expression of Nrf2-regulated genes were analyzed.

Treatment with A.

gigas extract (1) protected TM3 cells against oxidative stress in a dose-dependent manner, (2) improved the mean weight of the cryptorchid testis, (3) maintained sperm counts, motility, and spermatogenic cell density, (4) decreased levels of 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and increased levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), (5) significantly increased Nrf2 and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), and (6) significantly decreased apoptosis.

This study suggests that decursin extracted from A.

gigas is a supplemental agent that can reduce oxidative stress by Nrf2-mediated upregulation of HO-1 in rat experimentally induced unilateral cryptorchidism and may improve cryptorchidism-induced infertility.