In vitro in vivo and in silico approaches to assess the protective effect of Rosa indica petals on male infertility

Abstract

Male infertility is a growing concern in India, with an estimated 12-18% of couples facing infertility newlineissues. The present study was carried out with the aim of analysing the impact of lifestyle and environment newlineon semen parameters and the protective effect of Rosa indica petal extracts on heat stress induced male newlineinfertility. The study was structured into five phases. In the first phase of the study, retrospective data from newline299 male participants seeking medical assistance for fertility issues at a private hospital was analysed. The newlineresults of this phase showed a significant association between prolonged sitting (more than 4 hours per day) newlineand semen parameters. It was observed that individuals who sat for extended periods showed a significant newlinedecrease in semen volume (p-value 0.004), sperm count (p-value 0.01), and normal forms (p-value 0.039), newlineincrease in non-progressive (p-value lt0.001) and nonmotile (p-value 0.037) sperms in comparison to those newlinewho sat for less than 4 hours. While there are notable variations in sperm parameters across seasons, newlinewhereas, the observed values align with the standards set by the World Health Organization (WHO). newlineHowever, the study did not establish statistically significant correlations between male infertility and newlineaddictions such as smoking and alcohol consumption. newlineThe antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and cytoprotective potential of the fresh and dry petal extracts of newlineR. indica was assessed in phase II. The ethanolic extract from dry petals exhibited the highest radical newlinescavenging and anti-inflammatory activity with low IC50 value compared to aqueous petal extract. newlineAdditionally, the cytoprotective test conducted with the MTT assay demonstrated the viability of TM3 cell lines newlineeven at the maximum concentration of 200 and#956;g/ml. Therefore, a dosage of 200 mg/kg was selected for in vivo newlinestudies in phase III. In this study, the male Wistar rats were exposed to heat stress by immersing hind legs, newlinetail and scrotum in 43and#8304;C thermostatically controlled water bath for 30 min for 6 consecutive days