• Heat killed Saccharomyces boulardii improves the sperm viability of rats with cholestatic liver disease
  • Hajar Hajian1,1 Mitra Motallebi2,2 Maryam Akhavan Taheri3,3 Nejat Kheiripour1,4 Shima Kabiri-Arani1,5 Mohammad Esmaeil Shahaboddin1*,6,*
    1. 1- Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
    2. 2- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
    3. 3- Institute for Basic Sciences, Anatomical Sciences Research Center, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
    4. 1- Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
    5. 1- Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
    6. 1- Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran


  • Introduction: The nonpathogenic yeast Saccharomyces boulardii (S. boulardii) has beneficial effects on the human intestine, and thus has been prescribed as probiotics for the treatment of diarrhea. Several studies have demonstrated that this probiotic may interfere with cellular signaling pathways prevalent in a variety of inflammatory disorders, including liver fibrosis. Liver fibrosis is a chronic condition that is linked to a number of secondary conditions, including male reproductive failure. Due to safety concerns around the use of live probiotics, previous studies have demonstrated that alternatives to live probiotics, such as heat-killed bacteria or their fractions or purified components, have significant beneficial effects. The purpose of this study was to examine the protective effect of heat-killed S. boulardii against cholestasis-induced male reproductive failure.
  • Methods: Male Wistar rats were subjected to bile duct ligation to induce liver fibrosis. The study included 4 groups (n=8). The bile ducts of two groups were ligated while one group received heat-killed S. boulardii (BDL+ Heat killed S. boulardii) and the other received a vehicle (BDL). sham operated (Sham) and normal control (CN) either received vehicle. Using gastric gavage, heat-killed S. boulardii was administered one week prior to BDL and 3 weeks after BDL. At the end of the 28st day, blood samples were collected by heart puncture and sexual hormones including testosterone, LH, and FSH analyzed by ELISA method. In addition, the epididymis was isolated from the testis, and the concentration of sperm, as well as the percentage of live and abnormal sperm, were assessed. Furthermore, testicular tissue immediately frozen in RNA later and stored at -80 °C for assayed inflammatory genes expression such as TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-10.
  • Results: The level of sperm abnormality, LH and inflammatory genes such as TNF-α, IL-6 were significantly greater, while the level of sperm viability, sperm concentration and testosterone were significantly lower in the BDL group when compared to sham group (p≤0.05). In the BDL+ Heat killed S. boulardii the level of sperm viability was higher and IL-6 was lower than that in the BDL group (p≤0.05). Other sperm parameters, sexual hormones and TNF-α and IL-10 didn’t significantly Changed Compared to BDL group (P≥0.05).
  • Conclusion: The results of this study showed that cholestasis has a negative effect on male factors that are linked to infertility. Exposure to chemicals at supraphysiologic concentrations results in cytotoxicity and testicular damage. Our findings suggest that heat-killed S. boulardii may be useful in the context of male infertility.
  • Keywords: Infertility; Saccharomyces boullardii; Liver fibrosis; Testis