Diabetes mellitus is a major health problem that affects a patient’s life quality throughout the world due to its worst complications. It was recognized that chronic hyperglycemia with oxidative stress was the major cause of male infertility.Echinacea purpureaethanol extract (EE) contains phenolic acid and isobutylamides had been proven to ameliorate diabetic complications. Chitosan/silica nanoparticles are well-known in the medicinal field because of its controlled release and drug delivery properties. This study was aimed at investigating whether the EE encapsulated chitosan/silica nanoparticle (nano-EE) can enhance the amelioration of male infertility. Our results indicated that the average size of nano-EE was 218 ± 42 nm with an encapsulation efficiency of 66.9% and loading capacity of 39.9%. The reduction in oxidative stress and antioxidant activity of nano-EE was observed in LC-540 cells. Inin vivoexperiment, 33 mg/kg of streptozotocin (STZ) was used to induce diabetes in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Diabetic rats were treated with nano (465 mg/kg), nano-EE 1 (93mg/kg), nano-EE3 (279mg/kg), nano-EE5 (465 mg/kg), and metformin (Met) (200 mg/kg) for 7 weeks. The results show that the nano-EE5 can improve hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, and plasma fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF 21) resistance. It was also confirmed that nano-EE5 significantly improved the testis tissue structure, increasing sperm quality and DNA integrity as well as reducing reactive oxygen species level.

Purpose: To investigate the effects of Mytilus edulis water extract (MWE) on an anterior cruciate ligament transection and a partial medial meniscectomy surgery to induced osteoarthritis (OA) with the high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese rats. Methods: The male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed with HFD for 4 weeks before surgery. The OA rats were orally administered with MWE (108.5, 217.0, and 542.5 mg/kg) for 6 weeks. Results: The administration of MWE affected weight loss, triglycerides content, and total cholesterol level. MWE also enhanced the activity of superoxide dismutase and decreased lipid peroxidation degree. Moreover, MWE reduced proinflammatory cytokines level, alleviated inflammation and swelling of the osteoarthritic knee, and reduced loss of proteoglycan in articular cartilage tissue. Conclusion: MWE suppressed proinflammatory mediators and attenuated the cartilage degradation and pain in osteoarthritis rats under obesity condition. Therefore, MWE has the potential to act as an alternative for osteoarthritis treatment.

Obesity is characterized by excessive fat accumulation and it may affect reproductive health by altering the sperm parameters, hormonal profiles, and gonadal functions. Echinacea purpurea is a medicinal herb and is well-known for its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. The purpose of this study was to examine the beneficial effects of E. purpurea ethanol (EPE) extract on the high-fat diet (HFD)-induced reproductive damage. The obese condition in male Sprague–Dawley rats was induced by feeding with a high-fat diet (45%) and later three different doses of EPE (93, 186, 465 mg/kg per day) were tested for 5 weeks. The results showed that the level of antioxidant enzymes was increased, whereas lipid peroxidation, blood glucose level, nitric oxide production, IL-6 level, and TNF-α level were decreased in the presence of EPE extract. In addition to this, the sperm counts, motility, morphology, DNA damage, and mitochondrial membrane potential were also improved. Additionally, the protein expression of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Alpha (PPAR-α), and Phospho-Adenosine Monophosphate-Activated Protein Kinase Alpha ½ (AMPKα1/2) phosphorylation in liver tissue and Steroidogenic Acute Regulatory Protein (StAR) and 17β-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase 3 (17β-HSD3) expressions in testes were increased. In conclusion, the administration of EPE extracts beneficially regulated the inflammation and reproductive damage in obese rats.

Obesity is a complex metabolic disease, which induces a variety of diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and cancer. Various chemical agents can be used for treat obesity, but adverse some side effects, such cardiovascular disease and stroke. Natural products reported possessing anti-obesity activity. Mytilus edulis (ME) has been associated with some functional properties such as antioxidant and anti-inflammation. This study aims to determine the preventive effects of Mytilus edulis water extract (MWE) on male reproduction dysfunction in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity rats. The Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats used for obesity model and fed by HFD for 13 weeks. The rats were treated with three different doses of MWE (MWE1, 150 mg/kg body weight; MWE2, 300 mg/kg; MWE5, 750 mg/kg). The results showed that the MWE can reduce body weight, total cholesterol (TC), and triglyceride (TG). In reproduction function, MWE showed that the percentage of sperm motility and progressive motility significantly increase compared to no treated-HFD group. MWE was also reduced oxidative stress and increase the enzymatic antioxidant activity such as superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx). In the conclusion suggested that MWE had beneficial effects on the male reproduction dysfunction in HFD-induced obese rats