1Professor, Dept. of Physiology, College of Korean Medicine, Semyung University, Korea
2Professor, Dept. of Korean Pediatrics, Hospital of Korean Medicine, Pusan National University, Korea
3 Professor, Dept. of Anatomy, College of Korean Medicine, Semyung University, Korea
The object of this study is to establish whether Alpiniae Oxyphyllae Fructus (AOF) will also have an effect on reduced male reproductive function.
The experimental groups comprised of (1) a control group consisting of 8-week-old Institute of Cancer Research(ICR) male mice, and two aging groups consisting of 50-week-old ICR male mice (2) without or with (3) AOF treatment. The AOF group was treated with AOF (0.54 g/kg/day) for 6 months. After 6 months, histochemistry and immunohistochemistry analyses were performed on tissue sections from the testis, and images were analyzed using Image-Pro analysis software.
AOF increased the distribution of Sertoli cells and spermatids, increased mitochondrial cell division in seminiferous tubules, and decreased the apoptotic cell death of Sertoli cells. Androgen receptor(AR) positive response in Sertoli cells and 17β-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (17β-HSD) positive response, a testosterone-converting enzyme, in Leydig cell, significantly increased in number. In seminiferous tubules, 8-OHdG, caspase-3, and HDAC1 expression decreased.
In this study analyzing the ability of AOF to improve male reproductive function, AOF was able to improve sperm production, increase testosterone production and action, decrease oxidative stress.
Alpiniae Oxyphyllae Fructus (AOF), reproductive function, spermatogenesis, testosterone, oxidative stress
