Abstract
The role of cadmium in the dwindling male fertility rate in men and animals has been extensively documented in several studies over the years, and various natural compounds have been used to successfully manage it. In this study, we investigated the impact of exposing dams to polyphenol-rich extract of Ocimum gratissimum (PREOG)/cadmium during gestation and lactation on the reproductive outcome in adult male offspring (PND 90). Sixty adult females were randomly assigned to groups A-F (n = 10) and cohabitated with adult males in a ratio of 2:1 for ten days. At day 7, each female received oral treatment daily as follows; A (served as the control), B (received 3 mg/kg CdCL(2)), C (received 100 mg/kg PREOG), D (received 200 mg/kg PREOG), E (received 100 mg/kg PREOG + 3 mg/kg CdCL(2)) and F (received 200 mg/kg PREOG + 3 mg/kg CdCL(2)) treatment continued to postnatal day 29 before weaning. The male pups separated from females continued to receive only food and water ad lib till postnatal ninety (PND90). At (PND 90) five males were selected from each group cohabited with the untreated females at a ratio of 2:1 for a fertility test, while six males from each were sacrificed, and blood, semen, and testes were harvested for analysis. Our result indicated that PREOG enhanced semen quality, GSI/EPI, SOD, GPx, and GST values at (PND90), also PREOG upregulates the expression of StAR, 3β-HSD, 17β-HSD genes, and testosterone value in (PND90), PREOG also upregulated the expression of PTMA, RSPH6A, DAAM1 genes, and the fertility outcome in (PND90) offspring. These findings validate the protective role of PREOG against cadmium-induced reprotoxcity in male offspring exposed during gestation and lactation and enhance reproductive performance.