Effect of Gosha-Jinki-Gan on Levels of Specific mRNA Transcripts in Mouse Testes after Busulfan Treatment

• Main Authors: Ning Qu, Kenta Nagahori, Miyuki Kuramasu, Yuki Ogawa, Kaori Suyama, Shogo Hayashi, Kou Sakabe, Masahiro Itoh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-10-01
• Series: Biomedicines
• Subjects: oriental medicine; aspermatogenesis; specific mRNA transcript; anticancer treatment
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/8/10/432

With the increase in survival rates of cancer patients in recent years, infertility caused by anticancer treatments has become a significant concern for cancer survivors. Some studies have suggested that Sertoli cells play a key role in mediating testicular immunology in busulfan-induced aspermatogenesis. We recently demonstrated that Gosha-jinki-gan (TJ107), a traditional Japanese medicine, can completely recover injured spermatogenesis in mice 60 days after busulfan injection. In the present study, we sought to examine the levels of mRNA transcripts encoding markers of 25 Sertoli cell-specific products and 10 markers of germ cell differentiation. Our results demonstrated that only supplementation of TJ107 at day 60 after busulfan injection could significantly recover the increase in five mRNA species (<i>Amh</i>, <i>Clu</i>, <i>Shbg</i>, <i>Testin</i>, and <i>Il1a</i>) and the decrease in four mRNA species (<i>Aqp8</i>, <i>CST9</i>, <i>Wnt5a</i>, and <i>Tjp1</i>) in response to Busulfan (BSF) at day 120, with the increase of all examined spermatogenic markers.