Abstract
Coridius chinensis (C. chinensis) is a traditional Chinese medicine that has been used to treat pain, erectile dysfunction, and other diseases. Our previous study demonstrated that manganese-induced reproductive damage was partially rescued by a medium dose of C. chinensis treatment in rat. However, the underlying mechanism is unknown. In this study, we found that the weight of reproductive organs and the sperm count in manganese-exposed rat were partially rescued by C. chinensis extracts (CcE) treatment. The number of apoptotic cells was significantly decreased and the expression of malondialdehyde, cytochrome c, and caspase-3 in manganese-exposed rats was significantly decreased after high dose of CcE treatment. Further studies revealed that the activity of superoxide dismutase, total antioxidant capacity, and glutathione peroxidase enzymes was significantly increased in testis tissues and serum of manganese-exposed rats with high dose of CcE treatment. Taken together, the results of this study suggest that CcE inhibits the Mn2+ -induced apoptosis in testes by inducing the activity of antioxidants.