Clove-Chitosan Nanoparticles Alleviate Fertility Impairment and Reproductive Dysfunction in Obese Male Rat Model

Abstract

Male infertility, often linked to obesity, is associated with hormonal imbalance, oxidative stress, and poor sperm quality. Recent studies suggest that treatment with clove and chitosan offers promising results by reducing oxidative damage, improving sperm parameters, and restoring testicular function, making this combination a potential therapeutic approach for enhancing male fertility in obese individuals. On this, the current study was conducted to assess the protective impacts and the promising role of the chitosan nanoparticles (ChNPs) and the clove-chitosan nanoparticle (CNPs) against infertility caused by the high-fat diet (HFD) in rats. CNPs were produced and characterized using UV–Visible spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy. Hyperlipidemia causes male infertility by induction of HFD for 4 weeks. 24 rats were divided into four groups (n = 6) as follows: Control: were fed on regular chow pellets. HFD: were fed on HFD. HFD + ChNPs: were fed on HFD along with ChNPs (45 mg/kg.b.wt). HFD + CNPs: were fed on HFD along with CNPs (45 mg/kg.b.wt). compared to the HFD model group, administration of ChNPs and CNPs revealed a significant decline in final body weight and weight gain and a significant increase in sex hormone levels, total proteins, HDL-cholesterol, sperm motility, sperm count, seminal fructose level, glutathione reduced, and catalase, along with optimizing testicular architecture. Furthermore, CNPs caused a significant decrease in glucose, cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, sperm abnormality, malondialdehyde, and nitric oxide. CNPs treatment helps repair and restore the germinal epithelium and shows normal seminiferous tubules and have the leading effect than ChNPs. CNPs alleviate testicular dysfunction caused by HFD by reducing hyperlipidemia and hyperglycemia, restoring sex hormone levels, enhancing spermatogenesis, and balancing oxidants-antioxidants system. CNPs showed a synergistic effect on fertility compared to chitosan and clove used independently.