1. Corresponding Email: Farnam.azad@Hotmail.com
Anti-apoptotic Effect of Royal Jelly Against Nicotine-induced Testicular Injuries in Mice: Evidence of P53, Bcl-2 and caspase-3 Expressions
Farnam Azad 1*, Vahid Nejati 1, Fatemeh Rahmani 1, Gholamreza Najafi 2 , Ali Shalizar Jalali 2
1. Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran 2. Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran
Objectives
Materials & Methods
Results
Nicotine (NIC) as a toxic component adversely affects a male reproductive system. This study describes the effects of royal jelly (RJ) on testicular injury induced by NIC and elucidates the potential underlying mechanism at molecular level.
Thirty-six male BALB/c mice were randomly divided into six groups (n = 6). Group 1 received normal saline, group 2 received 100 mg/kgBW/day RJ, groups 3 and 4 received NIC at doses of 0.50 and 1.00 mg/kgBW/day, respectively and groups 5 and 6 received NIC at doses of 0.50 and mg/kg BW/day respectively plus RJ. Following 35 days, the expressions of P53, Bcl-2 and caspase-3 in testicular tissue were evaluated by RT-PCR.
NIC treatment caused a significant (p<0.05) down-regulation of Bcl-2 expression and up-regulation of P53 and caspase-3 expressions versus control group. Nevertheless, RJ co- administration led to significant up- regulation of Bcl-2 expression and down-regulation of the expressions of P53 and caspase-3 versus NIC- exposed mice.
Conclusion
Our results confirmed that RJ effectively protects testis against NIC damages through its anti-apoptotic effects and mitochondria-dependent apoptotic pathway prevention.
RT-PCR results for mRNA level of Bcl-2, P53 and Caspase-3 in control and different groups. The different superscripts are representative of significant differences. . CON: Control, RJ: Royal jelly, NIC 0.50: Nicotine mg/kgBW/day, NIC 1.00: Nicotine 1.00 mg/kgBW/day.
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