Cadmium-Induced Reproductive Toxicity in Rats

Abstract

Cadmium (Cd) is one of the major vocational and environmental toxicants. Cadmium is a heavy metal present
in soil, air and water and is listed as a priority pollutant by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The
toxicity of cadmium continues to be a significant public health concern as cadmium enters the food chain and it is taken
up by tobacco smokers.Several previous studies demonstrated that cadmium toxicity can lead to testicular tissue injury,
decreased testicular weights, compromised testicular function and reduced androgen secretion (I Ognjanović et al.
2010). Several evidences suggested that Cd-induced testicular toxicity is probably the result of complex interacting
mechanisms associated with its capacity to induce oxidative stress and apoptosis of the germ cells of humans and
animals (Ates et al. 2004; Kim and Soh 2009). Hence, Cd has been shown to increase the expression of proapoptotic
proteins p53 and Bax while reducing the expression of antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2 (Zhou et al. 1999). Environmental
exposure to Cd is associated with male infertility and poor semen quality in humans (Pant et al. 2003; Ji et al. 2011).
Also, interstitial edema, hemorrhage and necrosis were shown in Cd-induced testicular damage (Ji et al. 2012).Naringin,
a flavanone glycoside that is formed from the flavanonenaringenin and the disaccharide neohesperidose, is one of the
main active components of Chinese herbal medicines, such as Drynariafortunei (Kunze) J. Sm. (DF), Citrus aurantium
L. (CA) and Citrus medica L. (CM) (Zhang et al. 2014).The antioxidant activity is the most recognized effect of
flavonoids, which depends, for instance, on hydrogen donation and electron stabilization in the phenolic rings (Verri et
al. 2012). Previous studies demonstrated that naringenin significantly ameliorated oxidative and inflammatory tissue
injuries in different experimental models (Arul and Subramanian 2013; Mershiba et al. 2013; Esmaeili and Alilou
2014).Vanillin (VLN), 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde, is one of the most popularly used flavoring components
extracted from the seedpods of Vanilla planifolia and is widely used in foods, beverages, cosmetics and drugs. VLN
exhibits many biological activities including anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, anticarcinogenic and antimutagenic
properties (Bezerra et al. 2016).