Alleviation of silver nanoparticle-induced sexual behavior and testicular parameters dysfunction in male mice by yttrium oxide nanoparticles

Gasem Mohammad Abu-Taweel; Hani Manssor Albetran; Mohsen Ghaleb Al-Mutary; Mohammad Ahmad; It Meng Low

doi:10.1016/j.toxrep.2021.05.014

Alleviation of silver nanoparticle-induced sexual behavior and testicular parameters dysfunction in male mice by yttrium oxide nanoparticles

Toxicol Rep. 2021 Jun 1:8:1121-1130. doi: 10.1016/j.toxrep.2021.05.014. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Gasem Mohammad Abu-Taweel¹, Hani Manssor Albetran², Mohsen Ghaleb Al-Mutary^{2

3}, Mohammad Ahmad⁴, It Meng Low⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biology, College of Sciences, Jazan University, P.O. Box 2079, Jazan, 45142, Saudi Arabia.
² Department of Basic Sciences, College of Education, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, P.O. Box 2375, Dammam, 14513, Saudi Arabia.
³ Basic and Applied Scientific Research Center, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, P.O. Box 1982, Dammam, 31441, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ College of Nursing, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Department of Imaging and Applied Physics, Curtin University, Perth, WA, 6845, Australia.

Abstract

Silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) can easily cross through the blood-testis barrier and encourage reproductive dysfunction. This study investigated the protective effects of yttrium oxide nanoparticles (YO-NPs) on sexual behavior and spermatotoxicity induced by Ag-NPs in male mice. Twenty-four male mice were separated into four groups and injected intraperitoneally once a week as the following: group I (Ag-NPs at the dose of 40 mg/kg), group II (YO-NPs at the dose of 40 mg/kg), group III (Ag + YO NPs at the doses of 40 mg/kg, each) and group IV (control; distilled water). After 35 days of the injections, the sexual behavior, oxidative parameters in testis, sperm parameters, serum testosterone, apoptotic germ cells and testicular histology were evaluated. Our findings showed that Ag-NPs decreased the weight of the reproductive organs, sexual behavior, oxidative defense parameters, sperm count and motility of male mice. In addition, the apoptotic cells in testicular cross-sections and TBARS level increased after Ag-NPs exposure when compared to other groups. However, the YO-NPs had protective effects in the studied parameters of testicles and minimized the Ag-NPs toxicity in male mice. In conclusion, the results revealed that the toxicity of Ag-NPS altered testicular functions in male mice that were effectively ameliorated by YO-NPs.

Keywords: Apoptosis; Nanoparticles; Sexual behavior; Spermatotoxicity; Testosterone.