Kolaviron biflavanoids of Garcinia kola seeds protect atrazine-induced cytotoxicity in primary cultures of rat Leydig cells

We sought to explore the mechanism by which kolaviron (Kol) protects against atrazine (ATZ)-induced toxicity of cultured interstitial Leydig cells (ILCs). In our experiments, treatment with Kol improved Leydig cell viability and significantly reduced malondialdehyde (MDA) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels. Further investigations revealed a reduction in glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and elevation of superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD-1) and superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD-2) as measured by messenger RNA (mRNA) expression. Additionally, the ATZ-induced alterations in the mRNA transcript copy numbers of steroidogenesis genes: steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR), cytochrome P450 side-chain cleavage enzyme (CYP11A1), and 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3β-HSD) were shifted toward the control values by Kol. Taken together, these findings indicate that Kol protects ILCs from ATZ-induced toxicity via the reduction in ROS and MDA levels and induce normalization of mRNA levels of all the tested genes.