Effect of FuZhengJieDu granules on the nickel-induced apoptosis of testis spermatogenic cells in rats

Objective To explore the antagonistic effects of FuZhengJieDu granules(FJK) on the apoptosis of testis spermatogenic cells induced by nickel sulfate(NiSO_4).Methods The male maturation Wistar rats were divided into five groups,including the control group with normal saline solution,NiSO_4 2.5 mg/kg model group administrated intraperitoneally for 30 d,and FJK treated groups at doses of 2.5,5.0 and 10.0 g/kg with peroral route respectively for 21 days after the rats were treated with NiSO_4 2.5 mg/kg for 9 days.The apoptosis of spermatogenic cells and the expressions of Bcl-2、Bax protein were detected with TUNEL and Immunohistochemistry techniques.Results The number of apoptotic cells in NiSO_4 model group was significantly higher than that of control group,and the apoptotic cells were mostly spermagonia and spermatocytes at the stages of Ⅰ～Ⅵ,Ⅻ～ⅩⅢ and ⅩⅥ during the spermatogenic cycle(P0.05).Compared with the control group,in spermagonia and spermatocyte of the seminiferous epithelium,the Bcl-2 protein expression was significantly decreased while Bax protein expression was obviously increased in NiSO_4 model group(P0.05).After treatment with FJK,the apoptosis rates of spermatogonia and spermatocyte were lower than those of the NiSO_4 model group in FJK 5.0,10.0 g/kg groups,and the Bcl-2 protein expression was significantly upward while Bax expression was downward in FJK 5.0,10.0 g/kg groups in the spermagonia and spermatocyte of the seminiferous epithelium(P0.05).Conclusion The results showed that FJK could antagonized distinctly the abnormal changes of spermatogenic cells apoptosis that could be related to the downward Bax expression and the upward Bcl-2 expression.