Effects of Silver Nanoparticles on the Ovarian Tissue of NMRI Rats Treated with Alpha Lipoic Acid: A Stereological Study

Silver nanoparticles are produced in large quantities in the industry and have estrogenic activities and toxic effects on different organs. This study was conducted to determine the effect of silver nanoparticles on the ovarian tissue of NMRI rats treated with alpha lipoic acid.

In this experimental study, 24 female NMRI rats were randomly divided into 4 groups of 6. The groups included the control group, oral silver nanoparticles (500 mg/kg of body weight), injected alpha lipoic acid (100 mg/kg of body weight), and silver nanoparticles (500 mg/kg of body weight) plus alpha lipoic acid (100 mg/kg body weight). The treatment was performed for 28 days. After the treatment period, blood sampling was performed from the rats’ hearts to analyze biochemical parameters (malondialdehyde, estrogen, progesterone, and total antioxidant capacity using the ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) method). By dissecting the rats, the left ovaries were removed, fixed, molded, and cut, tissue passaging was performed, and the ovaries were stained using the hematoxylin-eosin method. Then, the ovarian tissue was evaluated by different stereological methods.

The total mean ovarian volume, the cortex volume, the medulla volume, and the corpus luteum volume, and the total number of primordial, primary, secondary, and Graafian follicles were significantly reduced in the silver nanoparticles group compared to the control group (P<0.05). The simultaneous administration of alpha lipoic acid and silver nanoparticles compensated for the adverse effects of silver nanoparticles on the above parameters. On the other hand, the mean number of different types of follicles in the rats treated with alpha lipoic acid significantly increased compared to the control group (P<0.05). A statistically significant reduction was observed in the measurement of estrogen and progesterone hormones in the serum of the silver nanoparticles group compared to the control group (P<0.05). Moreover, in assessing the antioxidant capacity of the serum of the group treated simultaneously with silver nanoparticles + alpha lipoic acid, a statistically significant increase was observed compared to the group treated with silver nanoparticles (P<0.05).

Silver nanoparticles can have adverse effects on the structure of the ovary and its components, and alpha lipoic acid can largely compensate for these detrimental effects.