Effect Of Nickel Sulfate On Energy Metabolism Of Testicular Cells In Rats

Objective To investigate the effects of nickel sulfate (NiSO4) on the activity, levels of mRNA and protein expression of energy metabolism enzymes and energy metabolites in rat's testicular cells.Methods 80 male healthy Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups and treated intraperitoneally with nickel sulfate at doses of 1.25mg/kg,2.50mg/kg and 5.00mg/kg once a day for 30 days, and the control group was treated by normal saline (NS) at the same condition. The rat's weight and food consumption quantity were recorded every week for evaluating the grazing rate and testicular organ coefficient. The rats were sacrificed with the cervical dislocation and the testicular organ coefficient was evaluated. Ni content of testes each group detected with graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. The activities of succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), malate dehydrogenase (MDH) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in mitochondria of testicular cells, and the contents of glucose (GLU) and lactic acid (LD) in testicular homogenate were detected with spectrophotometry assay. The levels of mRNA and protein expression of SDH MDH and GSH-Px were measured with Real-time quantitative PCR and Western blotting techniques.Results (1) The rat's body weight of NiSO4 5.00mg/kg group were lower than that of control group after exposure 3 weeks (P<0.05), but the organ coefficient of rats testes had no statistic significant between exposure groups and control group (P>0.05). Nickel contents of testes were higher than that of control group in NiSO4 2.50mg/kg and 5.00md/kg groups (P< 0.05). Compared with control group, the activities of SDH and MDH inhibited in NiSO4 2.50mg/kg and 5.00mg/kg groups, and GSH-Px only decreased in NiSO4 5.00mg/kg group (P< 0.05). The content of GLU of testicular cells decreased in NiSO4 2.50mg/kg and 5.00mg/kg group (P<0.05). (2) Compared with control group, the levels of mRNA expression of SDH and MDH were downward in NiSO4 2.50mg/kg and 5.00mg/kg groups, but the GSH-Px only downward in NiSO4 5.00mg/kg group (P<0.05). The levels of SDH protein expression was decreased in NiSO4 2.50mg/kg and 5.00mg/kg groups, but the MDH protein expression downward in all exposure groups and GSH-Px only downward in NiSO4 5.00mg/kg group (P< 0.05). Conclusion The male reproductive toxicity induced by nickel sulfate could be related to the disorder of energy metabolism in rat's testicular cells.