Objective To study the effects of Bushen Yijing Decoction (BYD) on respiratory function and energy metabolism of sperm mitochondria in rats, and analyze the possible mechanism on the gene level. Methods One hundred male rats were randomly divided into control group (group A), Tripterygium wilfordii group (group B), saline group (group C), levocarnitine group (group D) and BYD group (group E),20 in each group. The rats in group A were given normal saline [1 mL/(kg · d)], while the rats in other groups were given Tripterygium wilfordii polysaccharide [20 mg/(kg · d)], by gavage all for 21 d. Then the rats in groups A and B were sacrificed, and the rats in groups C, D and E were ig given normal saline [1 mL/(kg · d)],levocarnitine [50 mg/(kg · d)], and BYD [3 g/(kg · d)] respectively, once daily, for 35 d. Then the rats in groups C, D and E were sacrificed. The sperm motility parameters, mitochondrial respiratory control rate (RCR) and the ATP content of sperm cells were measured, and the gene content of specific calcium channel CatSper1 in sperm cells in each group was detected. Meanwhile, the correlation among the three indicators above was analyzed. Results The percentage of sperm a+b and sperm survival rate were significantly lower in group B than those in group A (P <0.01). But there was no significant difference in sperm density between two groups (P>0.05). Compared with group C, the percentage of sperm a+b in groups D and E increased signi?cantly (P<0.01), and the contents of RCR, ATP and CatSper1 RNA also increased, while those in group E increased more obviously. The results of groups D and E were as follows: RCR (4.39 ±0.42 vs 5.15± 0.39) μmol · min-1 ·g-1, ATP content (4.02±0.50 vs 5.82±0.40) μg/g and CatSper1 RNA (2.18±0.28 vs 2.64±0.28) ng/μL, and the differences were statistically significant between the two groups (P<0.01). Conclusion Tripterygium wilfordii can made asthenospermia rats model successfully. BYD can significantly increase the sperm motility of asthenospermia rats and increase their function of sperm respiration and energy metabolism through increasing the expression of CatSper1 RNA gene.
