Study of zinc in protecting sperm from sodium nitroprusside damage.
- Author:
Maigui YANG
1
;
Yang YANG
;
Zhuying ZHANG
;
Xiaoke HAO
;
Shanluan ZHENG
;
Lihui ZHONG
;
Ailing FAN
;
Wei XU
Author Information
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- MeSH: Adult; DNA Damage; Humans; Male; Nitric Oxide; toxicity; Nitroprusside; toxicity; Spermatozoa; drug effects; Zinc; pharmacology
- From: National Journal of Andrology 2004;10(7):530-537
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
OBJECTIVETo study the function of zinc in preventing human sperm from being damaged by sodium nitroprusside (SNP), an external NO donor.
METHODSAnalyses were made of the function of zinc in protecting sperm from being influenced by SNP in such aspects as sperm motility, head-tail connection and the breakage of sperm DNA chain by using phase-contrast microscope and single cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE).
RESULTSSperm motility was obviously inhibited by SNP. The percentage of comet cells increased significantly but the stability of sperm head-tail connection decreased. Zinc could promote sperm motility, protect the DNA chain and prevent the sperm head-tail connection from breaking.
CONCLUSIONZinc can protect sperm from being damaged by NO. Its mechanism may be related to the mercaptol group of sperm chromatin.
