title: Quercetin ameliorates polychlorinated biphenyls-induced testicular DNA damage in rats.
abstract: Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a group of environmental contaminants widely reported to cause gonadal toxicity in both humans and animals. This study investigated the amelioratory role of quercetin in PCBs-induced DNA damage in male Wistar rats. Polychlorinated biphenyls were administered intraperitoneally at a dose of 2 mg kg(-1) alone or in combination with quercetin (orally) at 50 mg kg(-1) for 25 days. Quercetin modulation of PCBs-induced gonadal toxicity was evaluated using selected oxidative stress indices, comet assay, measurement of DNA concentration and histology of the testes. Administration of PCBs alone caused a significant (P < 0.05) depletion in the total thiol level in testes of treated rats. Conversely, the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) production were markedly elevated in testes of PCBs-treated rats compared with control. Further, PCBs exposure produced statistically significant increases in DNA tail migration, degraded double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) concentration and histological alterations of testes of the treated rats compared to control. Quercetin cotreatment significantly improved the testicular antioxidant status, decreased DNA fragmentation and restored the testicular histology, thus demonstrating the protective effect of quercetin in PCBs-treated rats.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, CCNE, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: F L
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Lovato
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação BioSaúde, Universidade Luterana do Brasil, Canoas, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: de Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Drug Metabolism and Toxicology Research Laboratories, Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
authors.forename: I A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Adedara
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Biogenômica, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Barbisan
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Morfofisiologia Experimental, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: K L S
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Moreira
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Biogenômica, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dalberto
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Morfofisiologia Experimental, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: M I U M
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: da Rocha
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação BioSaúde, Universidade Luterana do Brasil, Canoas, RS, Brazil.|Laboratório de Hepatologia e Gastroenterologia Experimental, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.|Laboratório de Estresse Oxidativo e Antioxidantes, Universidade Luterana do Brasil, Canoas, RS, Brazil.|Programa de Pós-Graduação Fisiologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.|Programa de Pós-Graduação Ciências Médicas, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: N P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Marroni
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Biogenômica, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: I B
authors.initials: IB
authors.lastname: da Cruz
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Poluentes Persistentes, Departamento de Morfologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: I B
authors.initials: IB
authors.lastname: Costabeber
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004249:DNA Damage / Q000187:drug effects*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D008297:Male; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects*; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000633:toxicity*; D011794:Quercetin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism; D013737:Testis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances; D011794:Quercetin; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls
keywords: DNA; polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); quercetin; rats; testes