Effects of the grape juice concentrate and the Brazilian nut extract (Bertholletia excelsa) on the cadmiun-induced damage in the spermatogenesis and other reproductive parameters of male rats

Abstract

The spermatogenesis, as well as other male reproductive parameters, haven been altered by a series of endogenous or exogenous conditions, leading to the lowering in the male fertility observed in the last five decades. Environmental substances, mainly by-products of the human actitvities, are examples of endocrine-disrupting agents. Cadmium is one of such subsances. Its is a metal found in the cigarrete smoking, as a soil contaminant, in industrial workplaces and some foods. Cadmium has the testis as a preferential target even under very low concentrations. In this organ it triggers a wide range of tissue alterations (in seminiferous epithelium and insterstitium), disrupts the spermatogenesis and leads to infertility. Several studies have demonsted that cadmium triggers oxidative reactions in the tissue and antioxidant substances have been investigated as possible protective agents against the cadmium-induced damages. In the present project we propose to investigate two brazilian popular foods (grape juice and Brazil nut), the first as a concentrate and the second as an extract. The grape juice exhibit large amounts of polyphenols (such as resveratrol)and the nut extract presents large amounts of selenium and other antioxidant substances. Both will be used in cadmium-esposed male rats in two assays: short-term (7 days) and long-term (56 days). Our aims are to characterize the efficiency of such compounds, through the checking of reproductive parameters and antioxidant markers, in protect or mitigate the cadmium-induced changes. (AU)