Lycium barbarum Polysaccharide Ameliorates Heat-Stress-Induced Impairment of Primary Sertoli Cells and the Blood-Testis Barrier in Rat via Androgen Receptor and Akt Phosphorylation

Suqin Hu; Dianlong Liu; Sijia Liu; Chunrui Li; Jian Guo

doi:10.1155/2021/5574202

Lycium barbarum Polysaccharide Ameliorates Heat-Stress-Induced Impairment of Primary Sertoli Cells and the Blood-Testis Barrier in Rat via Androgen Receptor and Akt Phosphorylation

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2021 May 3:2021:5574202. doi: 10.1155/2021/5574202. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Suqin Hu¹, Dianlong Liu¹, Sijia Liu¹, Chunrui Li¹, Jian Guo¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Physiology, School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100029, China.

Abstract

Male infertility induced by heat stress has been attracting more and more attention. Heat stress not only causes apoptosis of spermatocytes but also has adverse effects on Sertoli cells, further damaging spermatogenesis. Lycium barbarum polysaccharide (LBP) is the main bioactive component of Lycium barbarum, which has a protective effect on male reproduction, but its mechanism is still unclear. In this study, our results proved that LBP blocked the inhibitory effect on the proliferation activity of Sertoli cells after heat stress, reversed the dedifferentiation of Sertoli cells induced by heat stress, and ameliorated the structural integrity of the blood-testis barrier. In addition, it increased the expression of the androgen receptor and activated Akt signaling pathway to resist heat-stress-induced injury of Sertoli cells.