Analysis of the antioxidantive qualities of sperm after total body X-irradiation of animals.

To study dynamics of natural antioxidant levels and antioxidant enzymes activities in rabbit seminal fluid in conditions of single total body X-ray irradiation in different doses. Materials and methods. Soviet Shinshilla white rabbit males 30-36 months old were taken into investigation. Sperm was collected by artificial vagina. Seminal fluid was purified from spermatozoa by centrifugation at 2500g during 12 min. Animals were irradiated by X-rays on RUM-17 device (Russia) in doses 1.0; 2.0; 5.0 and 7.0 Gy with dose rate 2.8x10-3 Gy/sec. Sperm was gathered on 10th and 90th day after irradiation. Free glutathione and thiol concentration were assessed by spectrophotometry using 2.2-dithiobisnitrobenzoic acid, lipid peroxidation was evaluated by measuring of TBA-active products concentration. Enzymatic activities of superoxiddismutase, catalase, glutathionperoxidase and glutathionreductase were estimated in substrate specific reactions spectrophotometrically. Results. Dose-dependant up-regulation of antioxidant enzymatic activity of seminal fluid on the 10th day after exposure to 1.0-7.0 Gy dose range of total X-ray irradiation was shown. This effect was accompanied by the decrease of free thiols concentration, from the one hand, and both TBA-active products and oxidized glutathione contents elevation, from the other hand. This seminal plasma state was shown to be temporal and partially normalized on 90th day after exposure. Conclusions. Total X-ray irradiation of rabbits leads to significant up-regulation of antioxidant processes of both enzymatic and non-enzymatic type on the 10th day after radiation exposure in seminal plasma. This effect was shown to be dose-dependant. Then antioxidant activity dropped and metabolic activities gradually normalized according to studied parameters within 90 days after exposure in 1.0 and 2.0 Gy.