Lack of Bauhinia forficata effect on sperm motility and redox status of diabetic mouse

Diabetes mellitus type 2 (T2DM), characterized by insulin resistance and/or relative insulin production deficiency, has been shown to cause male infertility. Hyperglycemia is known to directly induce reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, resulting in oxidative stress. Bauhinia forficata Link (Bf L.) is a powerful source of natural antioxidants with hypoglycemic and antidiabetic activities. Due to these effects, Bf L has been suggested as an alternative treatment to minimize T2DM complications associated to oxidative stress. Therefore, the present study investigated Bf L effects on the spermatozoa function of T2DM mice. For that, 16 C57Bl/6J mice with streptozotocin (STZ)-high fat diet (HFD)-induced T2DM were randomly distributed on diabetes control group (T2DM-C) and diabetic group fed with aqueous extract of Bf L. fresh leaves decoction (Dec) (T2DM-B) for 6 weeks. After treatment, animals with glycaemia greater than 230 mg/dL were considered diabetic and epididymis cauda sperm recovered for analysis. The data was analyzed by t-test using MiniTab 17 software. Data are expressed as mean ± SEM. Epididymal sperm motility, as evaluated by CASA, was not affected by bauhinia treatment in any parameters analyzed. There was no effect of Bf L. on glutathione peroxidase (28.2 ± 5.1 and 25.3 ± 4.4 for T2DM-C and T2DM-B group, respectively) and superoxide dismutase (59.8 ± 18.3 and 55.2 ± 11.8 for T2DM-C and T2DM-B group, respectively) sperm activity. Lipid peroxidation as assessed by thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) was not different between T2DM-C (163.6 ± 29.2) and T2DM-B (137.3 ± 28.8) mice sperm cells. ROS evaluation by flow cytometry using CelRox probe showed that ROS positive sperm in T2DM-C (4.40 ± 1.9) was not different from those observed in T2DM-B mice sperm (9.80 ± 2.9). Similarly, sperm high mitochondrial potential evaluated by flow cytometry using JC-1 probe was similar between T2DM-C (10.86 ± 3.4) and T2DM-B (19.88 ± 3.7) mice. In conclusion, Bauhinia forficata Link did not affect function and redox status of spermatozoa from STZHDF-induced diabetic mouse. Recipient of the “Young Talent Attraction" Fellowship from Science without border CAPES - CSF-PAJT - 88887.068701/2014-00.