Protective effect of quercetin on aroclor 1254-induced oxidative damage in cultured chicken sermatogonial cells

D ow nloaded from Quercetin, a dietary-derived falvonol-type flavonoid, is ubiquitous in fruits and vegetables and plays important roles in human health due to its antioxidant function. The present study was performed to investigate effects of quercetin on oxidative damage that was induced by an environmental endocrine disrupter, Aroclor 1254 (A1254), in cultured spermatogonial cells of embryonic chickens. Spermatogonial cells were dispersed from 18-day-old embryo and exposed to A1254 alone or in combinations with quercetin. The oxidative damage was estimated by measuring contents of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS, an indicator of lipid peroxidation), activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD, a scavenger of superoxide) and glutathione (GSH, an intracellular antioxidant). Results showed that quercetin had no deleterious effect on spermatogonial cells at 0.01~1µg/ml. Exposure to A1254 (10µg/ml) induced an increase of spermatogonial cell number and the membrane integrity was damaged by elevation of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) leakage. Exposure to A1254 also induced an elevation of TBARS but