Exploring the Potential of Plant Bioactive Compounds against Male Infertility: An In Silico and In Vivo Study

Abstract

Infertility is a well-recognized multifactorial problem affecting the majority of people who struggle with infertility issues. In recent times, among infertility cases, the male factor has acquired importance, and now it contributes to approximately half of the infertility cases because of different abnormalities. In the current study, we used natural phytochemicals as potential drug-lead compounds to target different receptor proteins that are involved in the onset of male infertility. A set of 210 plant phytochemicals were docked counter to active site residues of sex hormone-binding globulin, a disintegrin and metalloproteinase 17, and DNase I as receptor proteins. On the basis of binding scores and molecular dynamics simulation, the phytochemicals tricin, quercetin, malvidin, rhamnetin, isorhamnetin, gallic acid, kaempferol, esculin, robinetin, and okanin were found to be the potential drug candidates to treat male infertility. Molecular dynamics simulation showed tricin as a strong inhibitor of all selected receptor proteins because the ligand–protein complexes remained stabilized during the entire simulation time of 100 ns. Further, an in vivo study was designed to evaluate the effect of tricin in male rats with nicotine-induced infertility. It was explored that a high dose of tricin significantly reduced the levels of alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, urea, creatinine, cholesterol, triglyceride, and low-density lipoprotein and raised the level of high-density lipoprotein in intoxicated male rats. A high dose of tricin also increased the reproductive hormones (i.e., testosterone, luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, and prolactin) and reduced the level of DHEA-SO4. The phytochemical (tricin, 10 mg/kg body weight) also showed significant improvement in the histo-architecture after nicotine intoxication in rats. From the current study, it is concluded that the phytochemical tricin could serve as a potential drug candidate to cure male infertility.