Antioxidant Effects of Aerobic Training and Crocin Consumption on Doxorubicin-Induced Testicular Toxicity in Rats

Mohsen Davoodi; Shirin Zilaei Bouri; Shahla Dehghan Ghahfarokhi

doi:10.18502/jfrh.v15i1.6075

Mohsen Davoodi Department of Physical Education & Sport Sciences, Shoushtar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shoushtar, Iran
Shirin Zilaei Bouri Department of Physical Education & Sport Sciences, Masjed-Soleiman Branch, Islamic Azad University, Masjed-Soleiman, Iran
Shahla Dehghan Ghahfarokhi Department of Physical Education & Sport Sciences, Izeh Branch, Islamic Azad University, Izeh, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/jfrh.v15i1.6075

Keywords: Crocin; Doxorubicin; Exercise; Testis

Abstract

Objective: Doxorubicin (DOX) treatment has been reported to increase the risk of serious toxicity in testis, therefore the aim of the present study was to investigate the antioxidant effects of training and Crocin on doxorubicin-induced testicular toxicity in rats.

Materials and methods: In this experimental study, 42 Wistar rats were randomized into seven groups of six rats, including 1) Control, 2) DOX, 3) DOX + 10 mg/kg/d (day) Crocin, 4) DOX + 50 mg/kg/d Crocin, 5) DOX + high intensity interval training (HIIT), 6) DOX + HIIT with 10 mg/kg/d Crocin and 7) DOX + HIIT with 50 mg/kg/d Crocin. During eight weeks, rats in groups 3, 4, 6, and 7 administered Crocin daily at specific doses by gavage, and groups 5 to 7 performed HIIT(2-8rep2min at 80-110% Vmax) 5 day/w. Also, groups 2 to 7 administered 2 mg/kg/w DOX intraperitoneal. The testes were removed and glutathione peroxidase (GPX), total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and protein carbonyl (PC) were analyzed using ELISA methods, oneway analysis of variance along with Bonferroni’s post hoc test were used for analysis in SPSS (P≤0.05).

Results: The results of the present study showed that doxorubicin induced oxidative stress in testicular tissue by decreasing the level of GPX and TAC and increasing PC level (P≤0.05); TAC and GPX improved in all groups except groups 2 and 5, respectively, and their increase in the group 7 was significantly higher compared to other groups (P≤0.05). Increased PC levels were significantly reduced in the groups 5, 6 and 7.

Conclusion: The increase in antioxidant levels in the concurrent Crocin and training group seems to be dosedependent, but the oxidative stress in both Crocin and training groups of 10 and 50 mg/kg/d is associated with a decrease, but its modulation in the Crocin consumption group alone depends on the dose.