The effect of saffron aqueous extract on oxidative stress parameters and important biochemical enzymes in the testis of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

Introduction: Sexual dysfunction and infertility are frequently associated with diabetes in men and experimental animals. Oxidative stress and alteration in testis are responsible for complication in diabetes. Saffron has antidiabetic and antioxidant properties that improves the functions of various organs. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of administration of saffron aqueous extract in testis tissues of diabetic rats. Methods: The fasted rats were injected by a single intraperitoneal (ip) injection of a freshly prepared solution of streptozocin (STZ, 65mg/kg) in 0.1 M cold citrate buffer (pH=4.5). Three days after STZ administration, the animals with fasting blood glucose concentrations of over 250mg/dl were considered to be diabetic and were used in the experimental groups as follows: normal control (1), diabetic control (2), saffron control (3) and saffron treated (4). The treatment was started on the 7th day after STZ injection with ip injection of saffron (200mg/kg), five doses and weekly to groups (3 and 4). At the end of the experimental period, fasting blood glucose levels and the activity of ALT, AST, ALP, LDH, SOD, CAT, GPx and MDA content were determined in testis tissues. Results: Results showed saffron administration decreased elevated biochemical enzymes levels in testis of diabetic rats. Also, saffron significantly increased CAT and GPx activities in testis of diabetic rats. MDA levels had no significant changes in all experimental groups. Conclusion: The results demonstrated that saffron administration improved antioxidant enzymes function against oxidative stress. iD D ow nl oa de d fr om p pj . p hy ph a. ir at 1 0: 22 + 03 30 o n M on da y N ov em be r 4t h 20 19 29 | Physiol Pharmacol 22 (2018) 28-37 Hasanpour et al. remains untreated, it will lead to serious damages in different vital organs including male reproductive system. A large number of studies in men with diabetes, and in animal models show that diabetes causes male infertility due to sexual dysfunction and hypogonadism. Diabetes affects male reproductive function at different levels including changes in the quality of sperm, spermatogenesis, testicular morphology, sertoli glucose metabolism, ejaculation disorder, reduction in testosterone and libido (Jain and Jangir, 2014). Testis are considered as the primary reproductive organ and are one of the major organs affected by diabetes (Baccetti et al., 2002; Koh, 2007). Diabetic rats exhibit decreased testicular weight, sperm count, sperm motility and testosterone levels, and increased frequency of abnormal spermatogenesis (Scarano et al., 2006). Changes in testicular tissue including testis apoptosis may be the major component of the infertility in diabetes (Roy et al, 2014). Therefore, consideration the abnormalities in testis could be really beneficial to treat or reduce serious damages and infertility. Over production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and impaired antioxidant defenses are accompanied with diabetes. Evidence indicates that oxidative stress in diabetes people is the trigger for many alterations on sexual function. In this regard, reducing oxidative stress in patients suffering from diabetes could be really valuable (Amaral et al., 2008). There are number of medications used to treat people with diabetes; however, common medications for diabetes does not always prevent the complications of the disease. In recent years, attention has been focus on herbs with high antioxidant activity to prevent and protect oxidative damage caused by free radical species in diabetes (Stavic, 1994). Crocus sativus L. commonly known as saffron is a perennial stem less herb of the Iridaceae family. Saffron has been used in traditional medicine as an antispasmodic, eupeptic, gingival sedative, anti-catarrhal, nerve sedative, carminative, diaphoteric, expectorant, stimulant, stomachic and aphrodisiac agent. The pharmacological activities of saffron are attributed to many of its active constituents including safranal, crocetin, crocin and quercetin (Rios et al., 1996). Theses constituents of saffron exhibits high antioxidant activity which makes it an ideal candidate for treatment of disease associated with oxidative stress (Khajuria et al., 2010). Testicular dysfunction in diabetes is well established, whereas the impact of oxidative stress associated with diabetes on the testis remains elusive. Herein, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of saffron aqueous extract on oxidative stress parameters including superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in testis of diabetes rats and to investigate the performance of saffron extract on the improvement of testicular tissue by determining the activity of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). Materials and methods Experimental animals Thirty-two adult healthy male albino Wistar rats (7-8 weeks) weighting 200–225 g were purchased from Shiraz University of Medical Science (Shiraz, Iran). The animals were housed in standard cages at room temperature (23±1 °C) with a 12:12-h light-dark cycle with free access to tap water and balanced diet (ad libitum). For adaptation, all animals were kept in this condition one week prior to the study.