@article {157513, title = {The role of mesenchymal stem cells in chemotherapy-induced gonadotoxicity.}, journal = {Stem cell research \& therapy}, volume = {9}, year = {2018}, month = {2018 Jul 18}, pages = {196}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: The therapeutic potential of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) against cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity has been reported, however, its efficacy in gonadotoxicity still has not been addressed. Herein, we investigated the effect of BM-MSCs in cisplatin-induced testicular toxicity and its underlying mechanism of action.

METHODS: Thirty male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into a control group: injected with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) intraperitoneal (ip), a cisplatin group: injected with a single dose of 7~mg/kg cisplatin ip to induce gonadotoxicity and a BM-MSCs group: received cisplatin ip followed by BM-MSCs injection 1 day after cisplatin. In testicular tissues, malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and reduced glutathione (GSH) levels were assessed. Additionally, gene expressions of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), caspase-3, and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) were measured. The testicular tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) protein contents and Bcl-2 associated X protein (BAX) expression were determined. Histopathology of testicular tissues was examined.

RESULTS: Cisplatin injection showed a significant decrease in GSH and SOD testicular levels besides a significant increase of MDA and TNF-α testicular levels and upregulation of testicular gene expressions of iNOS, caspase-3, and p38-MAPK in comparison to the control group. Moreover, a marked increase in BAX protein expression was observed in the cisplatin group when compared with the control one. Histopathological examination exhibited significant seminiferous tubules atrophy in cisplatin-treated rats.

CONCLUSIONS: The BM-MSCs injection significantly repaired the testicular injury and improved both biochemical and histopathological changes. The MSCs mitigated the gonadotoxicity induced by cisplatin through antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and antiapoptotic mechanisms.

}, issn = {1757-6512}, doi = {10.1186/s13287-018-0946-6}, author = {Sherif, Iman O and Dina Sabry and Abdel-Aziz, Azza and Sarhan, Osama M} }