Protective effects of Tenghuanglin against memory and sperm injury induced by microwave radiation in rats

Objective To observe the protective effects of Chinese herbal compound Tenghuanglin (THL) against memory and sperm damage induced by microwave radiation in rats. Methods Forty male SD rats were randomly divided into normal control group, radiation group, AduoLaFuzhenglin treatment (ADL) group and THL treatment (THL) group (10 in each). Before radiation, rats in ADL and THL groups were treated with AduoLaFuzhenglin (12g•kg-1•d-1) and THL (1g•kg-1•d-1) respectively by intragastric administration once per day for 7 days. Then, the rats in radiation, ADL and THL groups were exposed to 30mW/cm2 microwave once for 15min, and rats in normal group received sham-radiation. Morris water maze was adopted to detect the learning and memory function of rats 1-6 days after radiation, and the changes of sperm motility in rats were observed on day 7 post-radiation. Results Morris water maze tests showed that the escape latency was significantly shorter in ADL group and THL group than in RAD group on day 2-6 after withdrawal (P<0.05). On day 6 after withdrawal, the escape latency in THL group was significantly shorter than that in ADL group (P<0.05). The results of sperm motility assay showed that, compared with control group, the sperm motility in radiation group significantly decreased on day 7 after radiation, for instance, the proportion of sperm in grade A significantly decreased (P<0.05), while the proportion of sperm in grade D and grade C significantly increased (P<0.05). Compared with radiation and ADL group, the proportion of sperm in grade A significantly increased in THL group (P<0.05), while the proportion of sperm in grade D and grade C significantly decreased (P