Effect of Selen-Enriched Laminaria on Rat Spermatogenesis in Modeled Pathospermia

This work addresses the issues of male reproductive health caused by pathozoospermia, which leads to a decrease in the number and motility of sperm cells. In many cases, this pathology is associated with ox idative stress. Seaweed is known to increase cellular resistance, making selenium-enriched brown algae ( Saccharina japonica ) a promising research object. In this paper, we report a preclinical study into the ef f icacy of a biologically active supplement obtained from selenium-enriched brown algae using modeled pathospermia (oligo- and asthenospermia) in rats. Pathospermia was induced by an intravenous adminis tration of etoposide. Five days before and after etoposide administration, the animals were intragastrically administered the supplement under study in the amount of 10 µg Se per 100 g of animal weight. Laminaria not enriched with selenium was used as a reference preparation. The supplement under study proved to be effective in reducing the severity of oligospermia. The total number of sperm cells in rats receiving sele nium-enriched laminaria increased by 41.2%; however, the share of motile forms remained at the level of control values, not exceeding 65%. The study revealed a significant decrease in the number of free radicals and an increase in antioxidant activity compared to the control (by 33 and 20%, respectively). A normalization of the redox balance of testicular tissue cells against the background values was noted. In rats receiving the control preparation, a significant increase in the share of motile forms of sperm cells (by 36%) and a decrease in the number of free radicals by 38.6% were observed, although the redox bal ance of testicular tissue cells was not restored. The antiradical effect was shown to be a more important factor in the restoration of cell motility than the normalization of the redox potential. Therefore, the studied biologically active supplement based on selenium-enriched brown algae ( Saccharina japonica ) proved effective in stimulating spermatogenesis in modeled pathospermia (oligospermia, asthenospermia).