Concerns with Male Infertility Induced by Exposure to Titanium Nanoparticles and the Supporting Impact of <i>Pelargonium graveolens</i> Essential Oil: Morphometric Records in Male-Wistar Rats

oleh: Ahmed Abdou Said, Yasmin Nasr, Azza A. A. Galal, Ahmed E. Abdelhamid, Haiam A. Mohamed, Mohamed M. M. Metwally, Mahmoud A. Said, Mohamed A. Nassan, Naief Dahran, Amany Abdel-Rahman Mohamed

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2022-04-01

Deskripsi

<i>Background</i>: Due to the increased use of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO<sub>2</sub> NPs), the risks of their reprotoxic effect arise. This study anticipated examining the potential protective effects of GEO (geranium essential oil) components screened via GC/MS analysis against the reprotoxic impacts of TiO<sub>2</sub> NPs on male rats. <i>Methods</i>: Thirty-two adult male rats were randomly assigned to four groups: control, GEO (75 mg/kg bwt/orally/day/60 days), TiO<sub>2</sub> NPs (100 ppm/rat/IP/day/60 days), and TiO<sub>2</sub> NPs + GEO. After 60 days, hormonal assay, semen appraisal, lipid peroxidation, antioxidant enzymes, testis and prostate morphometry, and the steroidogenesis-related genes’ mRNA expressions were assessed. <i>Results</i>: The TEM and DLS results demonstrated that synthesized TiO<sub>2</sub> NPs are spherical with minimal aggregations polydispersed and varying in size from 50 to 100 nm. TiO<sub>2</sub> NPs IP injection-induced sperm abnormalities decreased the percent of motile sperms in the sperm count, reduced sex hormone levels, altered the testicular oxidant/antioxidant status and mRNA expression of steroid-related genes, and induced architectural alterations in testicular, epididymal, and prostate gland tissues. GEO significantly rescued the TiO<sub>2</sub> NPs-altered spermiogram, sex hormones, and antioxidant capacity, restored the tissue architectures, and enhanced steroidogenesis-related gene mRNA expression. <i>Conclusions</i>: These findings may significantly contribute to developing combinatorial treatments for infertility associated with various environmental and industrial xenobiotic exposures.