Structural analysis of Panax ginseng glycoproteins and its anti-oligoasthenozoospermia effect in vivo

A component from ginseng in which sugars and proteins are covalently bound is named Panax ginseng glycoproteins (PGG). The contents of neutral carbohydrate, acid carbohydrate, and protein were 45.4%, 4.3% and 51.1%. The average molecular weight was 12,690 Da. The structure analysis showed that PGG had more than 1100 glycoproteins with molecular weight between 308.13 Da and 9991.52 Da, it was divided into two parts: long chain structure and short chain structure. These two parts were compared in molecular mass, number of amino acids, theoretical pI, instability index, aliphatic index and GRAVY. The in vivo distribution test of mice showed that PGG was enriched in mice testis, testicular tissue sections showed strong fluorescence signal expression on the surface of seminiferous tubules. We used cyclophosphamide (CP) to establish a mice model of oligoasthenozoospermia to investigate the anti-oligoasthenozoospermic effect of PGG. The results showed that PGG increased the levels of sex hormones T, FSH, PRL and sperm quality. Histopathology demonstrated that PGG promoted the differentiation process. The organ coefficient indicated that PGG had no obvious toxic and side effects. And the mechanism may be to affect the expression of protein levels such as p-ERK/ERK, p-AKT/AKT, Caspase-3, Bcl-2 and Bax. Therefore, PGG has the potential to develop into drugs for improving spermatogenic disorders.