The Effect of Nanoselenium on Oxidative Stress in Testes of Adult Rats Treated with Cadmium Chloride

With increasing age, degenerative changes in testicular tissue can be seen along with a decrease in sperm quality. Among the factors that have a toxic effect on sperm quality is the increase of oxygen free radicals by cadmium chloride, the low amount of which is necessary for sperm to acquire fertility. Nanoselenium as a strong antioxidant is able to neutralize free radicals. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of nanoselenium on oxidative status in cadmium chloride induced infertility in adult male Wistar rats.

In this experimental study, 48 adults male Wistar rats were randomly divided into eight groups including: healthy, experimentally healthy, receiving nanoselenium (0.05, 0.1, 0.2 mg/kg body weight), infertile control, receiving cadmium chloride, experimental infertile Cadmium chloride,and nano- selenium recipients (0.05, 0.1, 0.2 mg/kg body weight). The duration of treatment was 30 days. At the end of the treatment, the animals were anesthetized and the testicular tissue of the rats was removed immediately. The testes were homogenized and malondialdehyde (MDA), levels and activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) enzymes were measured. Finally,The results were analyzed using two-way ANOVA.

The results of the present study showed that the amount of MDA in the group treated with cadmium chloride increased significantly compared to the control group (3.88 ± 0.34) (p˂0.05). The results also indicated that the antioxidant power of testicular tissue in the group treated with cadmium chloride was significantly reduced compared to the healthy control group (p˂0.05).Moreover, nanoselenium treatment in infertile animals at doses of 0.1 and 0.2 mg/kg improved the oxidative stress parameters compared to the infertile control group.

It seems that nanoselenium, as a strong antioxidant, can inhibit the destructive effects of cadmium chloride on lipid peroxidation and the antioxidant power of testicular tissue.