Therapeutic Effect of Vitamin E on Testicular Tissue Damage Caused by Obesity

Abstract

Obesity can adversely affect overall health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or an increase in the number of health problems. Meanwhile, alterations in testicular metabolism induced by high-energy diets (HED) may induce mitochondrial dysfunction, which is closely associated to reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidative stress. Reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated damage to sperm is a significant contributing pathology in 30–80% of infertility cases. Vitamin E is considered to be the most effective liposolouble antioxidant found in biological systems. Here we evaluated the protective role of vitamin E against obesity-induced morphological changes in testes from albino rats fed different diets. Animals were divided into four groups: Group 1: standard controlled diet (SCD); Group 2: positive control group fed a high-fat diet (HFD); Group 3: αTF+HFD fed HFD supplemented with 100 mg/kg vitamin E (αTF); Group 4: αTF+SCD, fed 100 mg/kg αTF and SCD. Rats were weighed before and after the 10 week feeding period to determine changes in body weight (BWG %). After collecting blood from an intracardiac puncture under deep anesthesia, all animals were sacrificed and samples were analyzed by light microscopy. A HFD appeared to cause spermatocyte and Leydig cell damage, as well as decreases in testicular weight and function and testosterone production. Vitamin E supplementation promoted Leydig cell repair and reduced damage induced by a HFD, suggesting that vitamin E is an important dietary component to mitigate the negative effects of a high fat diet.