Reprodução de ratos Wistar expostos ao flavonóide rutina

Abstract

Introduction: Rutin is a glycosylated flavonoid belonging to the subclass of flavonols and widely found in nature in fruits, vegetables, and beverages such as wine. It has great therapeutic importance since it improves the resistance and permeability of capillaries, as well as the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antimitotic activities, among others. Hydrolyzed as quercetin, it promotes the inhibition of spermatozoa motility, changes in the prostate and in the levels of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone, factors that interfere with fertility. However, no studies were found regarding its effects on the reproductive system of rats. Hypothesis: Rutin has toxic activity on the reproductive system of rats. Objective: Evaluate the toxicity of rutin on testicles, prostate, seminal vesicles, epididymis, and epididymal spermatozoa concentration, as well as liver, kidneys, and spleen. Methods: Adult rats, from the vivarium of the Center for Reproductive Biology of the Federal University of Juiz de Fora, were distributed randomly into four groups: Control, which received intragastrically 1ml of distilled water; Treated I, II and III which received 5, 10 and 20 mg/kg/day of rutin, intragastrically, diluted in water, for seven consecutive days. Once euthanasia was performed, after 10, 42 and 60 days of the beginning of the experiment; testicles, prostate, seminal vesicles, epididymis, liver, spleen, and kidneys were removed. Epididymal secretion was obtained for spermatozoa count. Biochemical (ALT and creatinine) and hematological (hematimetry, hematocrit, hemoglobin, leukocyte counts, MGHC, MGH, and MGV) dosages were performed. The epididymides were processed histologically, and the epithelial height was measured by cutting the epididymis. In each cut, 10 circular tubules along the epididymis were selected and eight measurements along its circumference were obtained. The mean value was considered representative of the epithelial height of the tubule. The collected data were processed by variance analysis - one way and a post-hoc Dunnet T3 test (α = 0.05), and Kruskal-Wallis test with significance level α = 0.05. To analyse the epididymal epithelium, we used one way - ANOVA followed by Dunnet post hoc test (α = 0.05). Results: Animals of the TIII group had lower weight and lower feed intake compared to the control (p <0.05). The animals of the TI group, euthanized three days after the end of treatment, showed hepatomegaly and reduction of MGH, which did not occur in other doses and did not manifest at 42 and 60 days. All groups showed a reduction in the epididymis weight (p <0.05) after 10 days into the experiment, but this change did not endure at 45 and 60 days. Other variables showed no significant difference. Conclusion: Rutin did not cause persistent general toxic effects; however, it manifested toxicity to the epididymis, reducing its weight. Nevertheless, the mechanism of this effect was not identified in this study.