Zinc sulphate alleviates olanzapine-induced testicular oxidative stress and alters trace elements in male rats

Abstract

<title>Abstract</title> Male infertility is a complex and multifactorial clinical condition affecting a large population attributed to various factors, including perturbation in oxidative stress and the level of essential trace elements. Oxidative insults exert multiple issues related to reproductive health, including male infertility, decreased sperm motility, sperm DNA damage, and an increased susceptibility to genetic disorders. Besides chemical toxins and food allergens in junk food items, many drugs can also lead to male fertility. Olanzapine, a general antipsychotic drug, has also been reported to induce male fertility. A great deal of literature entails that zinc can alleviate oxidative stress-related clinical complications including male fertility. This study investigates the potential protective effects of zinc sulphate on olanzapine-induced male infertility. In the present study, there were four treatment groups (n = 6) Group 1 as control (without any treatment); Group 2 treated with olanzapine (10 mg/kg) orally daily for six weeks; Group 3 and 4 treated with 50mg/kg and 100 mg/kg of zinc sulphate respectively in pre-exposed olanzapine (10mg/kg) orally daily for six weeks. After completion of the treatment, the biochemical analysis of serum and tissue samples demonstrated that group 2 had compromised levels of antioxidant parameters (SOD, CAT and GSH) as well as elevated levels of stress parameters (GSSG, MDA and NO). However, ZnSO4 corrected all these parameters in a dose-dependent way in groups 3 and 4. Other health indicators, like taurine, enzyme Q10, phosphatidylcholine, ascorbic acid, and vitamin E, were also observed to improve with the supplementation of ZnSO4. Intriguingly, all the fertility parameters (sperm motility, count and level of testosterone) were also found to significantly enhanced with decreased sperm abnormalities in both the combination groups. The histological evaluation of the testis section also agreed with the biochemical analysis. Therefore, the study strongly advocates that supplementation of Zn can ameliorate olanzapine-induced male infertility to a significant extent.