Biomedical Research

Background and Objectives: Nitrite and nitrate as common derivatives of nitrogen distribute throughout the body after consumption which consequently increases the content of their metabolites such as nitric oxide in biological fluids. High concentrations of nitrite and nitrate affect the fertility of men by changing the parameters of sperm. Half of the infertility problems are related to men. No study has been conducted on the possible effects of water contaminants on the expression of fibronectin in testicular interstitial tissue. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the effects of chronic administration of sodium nitrite on the expression of fibronectin in interstitial tissue of mice testis using immunohistochemical assessments.

Methods: This was an animal laboratory study conducted on male mice (n=24) who were divided into three groups: a control group and two treatment groups I and II. For 60 consecutive days, the control group received water containing no additives, and the treatment groups I and II water containing 3 and 50 mg/L of sodium nitrite, respectively. After sacrificing the animals, their testes were removed from both sides, and the right testicle was used for the immunohistochemical study and the left for real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assessment.

Results: The amount of fibronectin mRNA was 0.92 fold in treatment group I and 0.8 fold in treatment group II, which showed no significant differences between the groups. Moreover, the qualitative expression of this protein in the interstitial tissue reduced insignificantly in treatment group II compared to the other groups (p=0.094).

Conclusion: Consuming water contaminated with sodium nitrite could not affect spermatogenesis through changing the expression of fibronectin in the interstitium of testis.

Author(s): Sarah Amini, Mohammad Reza Nikravesh, Mehdi Jalali, Alireza Fazel, Ariane Sadr Nabavi
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