Daneshvar Medicine

Daneshvar Medicine

The effect of swimming training and stem cells on the expression of DAZL and VASA genes in azoospermia model rats

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Maziyar Shojaee 1
Lida Moradi 1
Parvin Farzanegi 2
Bahram Abedi 2
1 Department of Physical Education and Sports Science, North Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
2 Department of Exercise Physiology, Sari Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sari, Iran
10.22070/daneshmed.2024.19662.1550
Abstract
Background and Objective: Spermatogenesis is a process that occurs with the proliferation and differentiation of spermatogonial stem cells. These cells are located on the basement membrane of seminiferous tubules and Sertoli cells surround them. This complex provides an environment that causes spermatogenesis to function and survive. The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of swimming training and stem cells on the expression of DAZL and VASA genes in azoospermia model rats.
Materials and Methods: The research method is experimental in terms of controlling variables and practical in terms of purpose. Twenty-five 8-week-old rats were selected and after the induction of the azoospermia model, which histological studies showed the clear degeneration of spermatogenic cells, which leads to the formation of thin-walled seminiferous epithelium in most of the seminiferous tubules, which indicates a severe disorder in sperm production, and after confirmation Azoospermia model randomly divided into 5 groups; Healthy, azoospermic, azoospermic+exercise, azoospermic+stem cell group and azoospermic+stem cell+exercise group were divided. One month after the creation of the model, one million stem cells were transplanted once in the vas deferens of each mouse. Swimming training was done daily for 30 minutes a day and 5 days a week for 8 weeks. Genes were measured by Real time-PCR method. Kruskal-Wallis test was used to analyze the data. All calculations were done using SPSS/23 statistical software and at a significant level of P≤0.05.
Results: The results showed that there is a difference between the effect of swimming exercises and stem cells on the expression of DAZL (F=22.879 and P=0.0001) and VASA (F=23.359 and P=0.0001) genes in rats. There is a significant difference in the azoospermia model. The results showed that there are significant differences in both variables of the healthy control group and the azoospermic group with all groups, and between the groups of azoospermia+stem cells with azoospermia+exercise and azoospermia+stem cells+exercise as well as the group of azoospermia+exercise with azoospermia+ Stem cells + exercise no significant difference was observed.
Conclusion: In general, the results of the present research indicate that regular aerobic exercise such as swimming along with stem cell injection helps in controlling the effects of infertility diseases by increasing the expression of DAZL and VASA genes in improving the process of spermatogenesis.
Keywords
Azoospermia
stem cells
swimming training
DAZL
VASA
  1. He H, Yu F, Shen W, Chen K, Zhang L, Lou S, Zhang Q, Chen S, Yuan X, Jia X, Zhou Y. The Novel Key Genes of Non-obstructive Azoospermia Affect Spermatogenesis: Transcriptomic Analysis Based on RNA-Seq and scRNA-Seq Data. Front Genet. 2021;26(12):608629. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2021.608629.
  2. Cannarella R, Condorelli RA, Mongioì LM, La Vignera S, Calogero AE. Molecular Biology of Spermatogenesis: Novel Targets of Apparently Idiopathic Male Infertility. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2020;3;21(5):1728. doi: 10.3390/ijms21051728.
  3. Kohn TP, Pastuszak AW. Non-obstructive azoospermia and shortened leukocyte telomere length: further evidence linking poor health and infertility. Fertility and Sterility. 2018;110(4):629-630. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2018.06.013.
  4. Vij SC, Sabanegh E Jr, Agarwal A. Biological therapy for non-obstructive azoospermia. Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy. 2018;18(1):19-23. doi: 10.1080/14712598.2018.1380622.
  5. Caroppo E, Colpi GM. Hormonal Treatment of Men with Nonobstructive Azoospermia: What Does the Evidence Suggest? Journal of Clinical Medicine. 2021;20;10(3):387. doi: 10.3390/jcm10030387.
  6. Oud MS, Ramos L, O'Bryan MK, McLachlan RI, Okutman Ö, Viville S, de Vries PF, Smeets DFCM, Lugtenberg D, Hehir-Kwa JY, Gilissen C, van de Vorst M, Vissers LELM, Hoischen A, Meijerink AM, Fleischer K, Veltman JA, Noordam MJ. Validation and application of a novel integrated genetic screening method to a cohort of 1,112 men with idiopathic azoospermia or severe oligozoospermia. Human Mutation. 2017;38(11):1592-1605. doi: 10.1002/humu.23312.
  7. Kumanov P. Managing Infertility Due to Endocrine Causes. The Diagnosis and Treatment of Male Infertility. Springer 2017;63-78. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56547-7_5
  8. Gordetsky J, van Wijngaarden E, O'Brien J. Redefining abnormal follicle-stimulating hormone in the male infertility population. BJU International. 2012;110(4):568-72. doi: 10.1111/j.1464-410X.2011.10783.x.
  9. Ring J, Welliver C, Parenteau M, Markwell S, Brannigan RE, Köhler TS. The Utility of Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin in Hypogonadism and Infertile Males. The Journal of Urology. 2017;197(5):1326-1331. doi: 10.1016/j.juro.2017.01.018.
  10. Yu S, Zhao Y, Zhang FL, Li YQ, Shen W, Sun ZY. Chestnut polysaccharides benefit spermatogenesis through improvement in the expression of important genes. Aging (Albany NY). 2020;21;12(12):11431-11445. doi: 10.18632/aging.103205.
  11. Tanaka SS, Toyooka Y, Akasu R, Katoh-Fukui Y, Nakahara Y, Suzuki R, Yokoyama M, Noce T. The mouse homolog of Drosophila Vasa is required for the development of male germ cells. Genes & Development. 2000;1;14(7):841-53.
  12. Gill ME, Hu YC, Lin Y, Page DC. Licensing of gametogenesis, dependent on RNA binding protein DAZL, as a gateway to sexual differentiation of fetal germ cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2011;3;108(18):7443-8. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1104501108.
  13. Mobarak H, Heidarpour M, Rahbarghazi R, Nouri M, Mahdipour M. Amniotic fluid-derived exosomes improved spermatogenesis in a rat model of azoospermia. Life Sciences. 202;11;274:119336. doi: 10.1016/j.lfs.2021.119336.
  14. Barranco I, Padilla L, Parrilla I, Álvarez-Barrientos A, Pérez-Patiño C, Peña FJ, Martínez EA, Rodriguez-Martínez H, Roca J. Extracellular vesicles isolated from porcine seminal plasma exhibit different tetraspanin expression profiles. Scientific Reports. 2019;9;9(1):11584. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-48095-3.
  15. Nikbin S, Derakhshideh A, Karimi Jafari S, Mirzahamedani A, Moslehi A, Ourzamani S, Barati E, Amini F, Zolfaghari FS, Azarbayjani MA. Investigating the protective effect of aerobic exercise on oxidative stress and histological damages of testicular tissue associated with chlorpyrifos in male rats. Andrology. 2020;52(2):e13468. doi: 10.1111/and.13468.
  16. Dutra Gonçalves G, Antunes Vieira N, Rodrigues Vieira H, Dias Valério A, Elóisa Munhoz de Lion Siervo G, Fernanda Felipe Pinheiro P, Eduardo Martinez F, Alessandra Guarnier F, Rampazzo Teixeira G, Scantamburlo Alves Fernandes G. Role of resistance physical exercise in preventing testicular damage caused by chronic ethanol consumption in UChB rats. Microscopy Research and Technique. 2017;80(4):378-386. doi: 10.1002/jemt.22806.
  17. Khosravi Sadr M, Nasiri E, Khalili M. The effect of resistance training on testicular function and spermatogenesis process and sperm parameters of adult male Wistar rats. Daneshvar Medicine: Basic and Clinical Research Journal. 2021;28(5):11-22. doi: 10.22070/DANESHMED. [Farsi].
  18. Li Y, Zhang L, Zheng X, Qian J, Li Y, Xie C, Zhang X, Zhou Y, Huang H. Dietary restriction and/or exercise training impairs spermatogenesis in normal rats. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism. 2021;46(3):229-237. doi: 10.1139/apnm-2020-0477.
  19. Thompson M, Mei SHJ, Wolfe D, Champagne J, Fergusson D, Stewart DJ, Sullivan KJ, Doxtator E, Lalu M, English SW, Granton J, Hutton B, Marshall J, Maybee A, Walley KR, Santos CD, Winston B, McIntyre L. Cell therapy with intravascular administration of mesenchymal stromal cells continues to appear safe: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis. EClinicalMedicine. 2020;17;19:100249. doi: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2019.100249.
  20. Kim HJ, Park JS. Usage of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Cell-based Therapy: Advantages and Disadvantages. Development & Reproduction. 2017;21(1):1-10. doi: 10.12717/DR.2017.21.1.001.
  21. Zhankina R, Baghban N, Askarov M, Saipiyeva D, Ibragimov A, Kadirova B, Khoradmehr A, Nabipour I, Shirazi R, Zhanbyrbekuly U, Tamadon A. Mesenchymal stromal/stem cells and their exosomes for restoration of spermatogenesis in non-obstructive azoospermia: a systemic review. Stem Cell Research & Therapy. 2021;6;12(1):229. doi: 10.1186/s13287-021-02295-9.
  22. Zohrabi Karani L, Farzanegi P, Azarbayjani MA. The Effect of 8-Weeks of Low-Intensity Swimming Training on Promyelocytic Leukemia Zinc Finger Protein and Spermatid Transition Nuclear Protein Gene Expression in Azoospermic Rats Model. Quarterly of the Horizon of Medical Sciences. 2020;26(4):332-47. doi:10.32598/hms.26.4.450.2. [Farsi].
  23. Asadi M, farzanegi P, Azarbayjani M A. The effect of swimming training, cell and laser on the expression of genes involved in autophagy (LC3 and Beclin-1) in azoospermia mice. Razi Journal of Medical Sciences 2023;30 (7). doi: ‎47176/rjms.30.166. [Farsi].
  24. Seib DR, Martin-Villalba A. Neurogenesis in the Normal Ageing Hippocampus: A Mini-Review. Gerontology. 2015;61(4):327-35. doi: 10.1159/000368575.
  25. Kretzschmar K, Watt FM. Markers of epidermal stem cell subpopulations in adult mammalian skin. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine. 2014;3;4(10):a013631. doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a013631.
  26. Shin S, Kaestner KH. The origin, biology, and therapeutic potential of facultative adult hepatic progenitor cells. Current Topics in Developmental Biology. 2014;107:269-92. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-416022-4.00010-X.
  27. Leri A, Rota M, Hosoda T, Goichberg P, Anversa P. Cardiac stem cell niches. Stem Cell Research. 2014;13(3 Pt B):631-46. doi: 10.1016/j.scr.2014.09.001.
  28. Shapouri A, Asgharpour H, Farzanegi P, Aghaei Bahmanbeglo N. The effect of swimming, cells and laser therapy on the expression of Drp1, Murf1 and Mfn2 genes in the testes of azoospermic rats. 2024; In Press (May-Jun). https://mlj.goums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_id=1473&sid=1&slc_lang=fa.
  29. Dissanayake DM. In vitro spermatogenesis; past, present, and future. Spermatozoa: Facts and Perspectives. 2018;13:25-51. doi:10.5772/intechopen.73505.
  30. Sun YC, Sun XF, Dyce PW, Shen W, Chen H. The role of germ cell loss during primordial follicle assembly: a review of current advances. International Journal of Biological Sciences. 2017;11;13(4):449-457. doi: 10.7150/ijbs.18836.
  31. Gustafson EA, Wessel GM. Vasa genes: emerging roles in the germ line and in multipotent cells. BioEssays. 2010;32(7):626-37. doi: 10.1002/bies.201000001.
  32. Zarate-Garcia L, Lane SI, Merriman JA, Jones KT. FACS-sorted putative oogonial stem cells from the ovary are neither DDX4-positive nor germ cells. Scientific Reports. 2016;15;6:27991. doi: 10.1038/srep27991.
  33. Castrillon DH, Quade BJ, Wang TY, Quigley C, Crum CP. The human VASA gene is specifically expressed in the germ cell lineage. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2000;15;97(17):9585-90. doi: 10.1073/pnas.160274797.
  34. Lacham-Kaplan O. In vivo and in vitro differentiation of male germ cells in the mouse. Reproduction. 2004;128(2):147-52. doi: 10.1530/rep.1.00220.
  35. Guo X, Gui YT, Tang AF, Lu LH, Gao X, Cai ZM. Differential expression of VASA gene in ejaculated spermatozoa from normozoospermic men and patients with oligozoospermia. Asian Journal of Andrology. 2007;9(3):339-44. doi: 10.1111/j.1745-7262.2007.00253.x.
  36. Yang, R. F., Liu, T. H., Zhao, K., & Xiong, C. L. (2014). Enhancement of mouse germ cell-associated genes expression by injection of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells into the testis of chemical-induced azoospermic mice. Asian Journal of Andrology, 16(5), 698–704. https://doi.org/10.4103/1008-682X.129209
Daneshvar Medicine
Volume 32, Issue 5 - Serial Number 174
January and February 2025
Pages 23-33