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. 2023 Jun 13;15(6):e40381.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.40381. eCollection 2023 Jun.

The Protective Effect of Oxitard on Sperm Function and Antioxidant Status in Rats Exposed to Swimming Stress

Sangshetty Vijay Prashad  1 , Kshatrapal Prajapati  2 , Gurudatta Moharir  3 , Nkemcho Ojeh  4 , Susmita Sinha  5 , Santosh Kumar  6 , Mainul Haque  7   8 , Ambadasu Bharatha  9
Affiliations

The Protective Effect of Oxitard on Sperm Function and Antioxidant Status in Rats Exposed to Swimming Stress

Sangshetty Vijay Prashad et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Background: Infertility is a significant public health issue, but its impact on quality of life and treatment efficacy is limited. Modern medicine lacks safe and effective drugs for male infertility, while traditional medicine has explored herbal extracts like Oxitard, which contains multiple extracts and oils. This study aimed to investigate the effects of Oxitard on male rats exposed to swimming (SW) stress.

Methods: Albino rats weighing 220-250 g were divided into five groups: control, SW stress, and SW treated with Oxitard at low, medium, and high doses of 250, 500, and 750 mg/kg/day, respectively. The rats were subjected to SW stress for 15 days and then assessed for body weight, reproductive organ weight, testosterone, antioxidant status, sperm function, and histological changes in the testes, seminal vesicles, and vas deferens.

Results: The results showed that SW stress significantly reduced body weight, seminal vesicle weight, testosterone levels, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), sperm count, sperm motility, sperm viability, and significantly increased malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. The testes of the SW-stress group rats also showed a significant decrease in spermatogenesis and the number of seminiferous tubules containing sperm. In contrast, treatment with Oxitard, especially at the highest dose, demonstrated potent free radical scavenging activity, recovering antioxidant status, and sperm function.

Conclusion: SW stress led to decreased sperm function, antioxidant status, and increased lipid peroxidation (LPO) in male rats. Oxitard treatment, particularly in high doses, showed a potential role as a free radical scavenger in treating oxidative stress (OS)-associated male infertility. Further studies are needed to investigate the individual components of Oxitard and conduct clinical trials in human subjects.

Keywords: activity; albino rats; male fertility; mechanism; oxitard; shielding; spermatozoa; swimming stress.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Histological features of rat testicular tissue in control, SW-stress, and Oxitard-treated SW-stress groups
a: Testes of control rat; b: Effect of SW-stress on testicular tissue showing abnormal seminiferous tubule structure, lumen showing the arrest of sperm maturation, and a decrease in different stages of sperm; c: High dose of Oxitard treatment with normalization of the structure (magnification 40x) SW: Swimming; L: Lumen; ST: Seminiferous tubule; SG: Spermatogonia; SZ: Spermatozoa; IT: Interstitial tissue
Figure 2
Figure 2. Histological features of rat seminal vesicles in Control, SW-stress, and Oxitard-treated SW-stress groups
a: Normal seminal vesicle; b: Stress-induced changes in the seminal vesicle; c:  Oxitard-treated with high dose (40x) SW: Swimming
Figure 3
Figure 3. Histological features of rat vas deferens in Control, SW-stress, and Oxitard-treated SW-stress groups
a: Normal vas deferens; b: Stress-induced changes in vas deferens; c: Oxitard-treated vas deferens (40x) SW: Swimming
Figure 4
Figure 4. Schematic diagram showing the mechanism of weight reduction of the testes in the stressed group
This figure has been drawn utilizing the premium version of BioRender with the License number IN25E8ZXYL. Image Credit: Susmita Sinha
Figure 5
Figure 5. Illustration showing beneficial effects of oxitard on sperm function
This figure has been drawn utilizing the premium version of BioRender with the License number XH25E9YT59. Image Credit: Susmita Sinha.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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