Protective Effect Of Curcumin On Reproductive System Injury Induced By Ionizing Radiation In Male Mice And Its Related Mechanisms

With the continuous development of nuclear energy technology,the application of ionizing radiation has extensively penetrated into all aspects of our life.It is also inevitable that the public is concerned about the potential adverse health effects of ionizing radiation.Proliferation and differentiation of cells is highly sensitive to ionizing radiation.Male germ cells,as one of the sensitive cells of ionizing radiation,are more susceptible to ionizing radiation-induced damage,resulting in decreased male fertility.Therefore,we urgently need to explore relevant drugs that can enhance the body's ability to resist ionizing radiation to protect the reproductive system health of the working population exposed to ionizing radiation.Curcumin is a phenolic compound isolated from the rhizome of turmeric and has the biological functions of anti-tumor,anti-inflammation and anti-oxidation.Studies have shown that oxidative stress plays a key role in ionizing radiation-induced injury of the reproductive system.However,whether curcumin can protect against injury to the male reproductive system induced by ionizing radiation has not been reported.This research mainly explores the protective effect of curcumin on the damage of male reproductive system by ionizing radiation and its possible mechanism.In this study,BALB / c male mice were used as animal models to explore the protective effect of curcumin on male reproductive system with ionizing radiation injury.Experimental results show that different doses of single ionizing radiation cause reproductive system damage in mice.Compared with the non-irradiated normal mice,the weight of testis and the concentration of spermatozoa in the tail of the epididymis significantly decreased after exposure to ionizing radiation.The HE staining showed that the ionizing radiation destroyed the normal physiological structure of the mouse testis tissue.TUNEL assay Testis tissue apoptosis,and found that ionizing radiation significantly increased apoptosis in testicular tissue.We also examined the effect of ionizing radiation on mouse spermatocytes at the cellular level.The results showed that after treated with ionizing radiation,the viability of cells decreased significantly and the rate of apoptosis increased significantly.A single radiation dose of 4Gy disrupted the normal mitochondrial membrane potential of spermatocytes.After irradiation,the protein level of caspase-3 in testis and spermatocytes increased.Then we explore whether curcumin can reduce the damage caused by ionizing radiation to the reproductive system.Oral curcumin can significantly increase the tail sperm concentration in the testis epididymis and reduce the apoptosis of testicular tissue spermatogenic cells.Cell experiments also found that curcumin pretreatment can significantly reduce ionizing radiation-induced decreased cell viability and apoptosis,improve mitochondrial membrane potential.The above experimental results show that curcumin has a protective effect on the reproductive system after ionizing radiation.Single ionizing radiation of 4Gy disrupts the balance between the oxidative stress system in mice and in spermatocytes.After ionizing radiation treatment,the expression of SOD and Total GSH in mouse testes significantly decreased and MDA and ROS levels significantly increased.Curcumin pretreatment can obviously increase the activity of SOD,Total GSH and reduce the level of MDA and ROS.On the basis that curcumin can play a protective role in the ionizing radiation-induced injury of the male reproductive system,we further explore its specific mechanism of protection.The Nrf-2 / HO-1 signaling pathway is an important antioxidant pathway in the body.Previous experimental results showed that curcumin pretreatment can significantly improve the oxidative stress status in mice and in cells.Based on this experimental result,we envision that the Nrf-2 / HO-1 signaling pathway is involved in the protection of curcumin against ionizing radiation-induced injury in the male reproductive system.Experimental results show that curcumin pretreatment can significantly increase the sperm cells and mouse testis tissue Nrf2 protein levels and promote Nrf2 from the cytoplasm to the nucleus of the transfer.The interference of Nrf2 gene in spermatocytes significantly reduced the protective effects of curcumin on spermatocytes.In short,this study first time reports that curcumin exerts a protective effect against ionizing radiation-induced damage to the male reproductive system.The mechanism of its protective effect may be related to the balance of the oxidative stress state maintained by the Nrf-2 / HO-1 antioxidant signaling pathway.Curcumin,as a traditional Chinese herbal medicine,has the advantages of small side effects,easy access to raw materials,may be developed into a new anti-radiation injury protective medicine.