Background

Testicular hyperthermia can have negative effects on male fertility. Despite reported therapeutic benefits of curcumin, several factors often limit its application such as low water solubility and instable structure. Curcumin-loaded superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) were designed to solve its limitation of use. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of curcumin-loaded SPIONs on transient testicular hyperthermia in mouse.

Materials and method

A total of 18 adult male NMRI mice were divided into three groups (n = 6): I. Controls (Cont), II. Scrotal hyperthermia (Hyp), III. Scrotal hyperthermia + curcumin-loaded iron particles (240 μL) (Hyp + Cur). After seventy days, the animals were sacrificed and used for further molecular and stereological evaluations.

Results

Sperm count, motility and viability significantly decreased in group hyp as compared to cont group. Furthermore, Sperm DNA fragmentation and cell apoptosis in testes increased remarkably in group hyp, compared with group cont. Stereological study showed a reduction in number of spermatogenic and Leydig cells, as well as reduced weight and volume of testes in hyp group. Degenerative appearance of testes exposed to hyperthermia was also observed. In addition, higher mRNA expression of inflammatory cytokines (IL1-α, IL6, and TNF-α) was detected in group hyp compared to cont group. However, curcumin-loaded SPIONs alleviated all of the pathologic changes in the Hyp + Cur group compared to the hyp group.

Conclusion

Here, we used nanoparticle form of curcumin in testicular hyperthermia model and showed its ameliorating effects on testes damages caused by heat stress, which can be an appropriate method to overcome the problems that limit curcumin application in cases with increased intra testicular temperature.

中文翻译：

---

加载姜黄素的超顺磁性氧化铁纳米颗粒 (SPIONs) 对暴露于瞬时高温的小鼠睾丸的改善作用：分子和体视学研究

背景

睾丸过热会对男性生育能力产生负面影响。尽管已经报道了姜黄素的治疗益处，但有几个因素经常限制其应用，例如低水溶性和不稳定的结构。加载姜黄素的超顺磁性氧化铁纳米粒子 (SPION) 旨在解决其使用限制。在本研究中，我们评估了加载姜黄素的 SPION 对小鼠瞬态睾丸高热的影响。

材料与方法

总共 18 只成年雄性 NMRI 小鼠分为三组（n = 6）：I. 对照（续），II。阴囊热疗（Hyp），III。阴囊热疗 + 姜黄素铁颗粒 (240 μL) (Hyp + Cur)。70 天后，将动物处死并用于进一步的分子和体视学评估。

结果

与对照组相比，hyp 组的精子数量、活力和活力显着降低。此外，与对照组相比，hyp组睾丸中的精子DNA断裂和细胞凋亡显着增加。体视学研究表明，hyp 组的生精细胞和 Leydig 细胞数量减少，睾丸重量和体积减少。还观察到暴露于高温的睾丸的退化外观。此外，与对照组相比，hyp 组检测到炎性细胞因子（IL1-α、IL6 和 TNF-α）的 mRNA 表达更高。然而，与 hyp 组相比，负载姜黄素的 SPIONs 减轻了 Hyp + Cur 组的所有病理变化。

结论

在这里，我们在睾丸热疗模型中使用了纳米颗粒形式的姜黄素，并展示了其对热应激引起的睾丸损伤的改善作用，这可以成为克服在睾丸内温度升高的情况下限制姜黄素应用的问题的适当方法。