Antiapoptotic
effects of resveratrol ameliorate perfluorooctanoic acid-induced inhibition of testosterone
biosynthesis in TM3 Leydig cells
Pavani R., Sukeerthi S. and Sainath S.B.
Res. J. Biotech.; Vol. 21(2); 246-255;
doi: https://doi.org/10.25303/212rjbt2460255; (2026)
Abstract
The perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) deteriorates testicular steroidogenesis. However,
the exact mechanism of action remains to be clarified. To address this question,
the effect of PFOA on mouse Leydig cells was investigated. The TM3 cells were cultured
in vitro (obtained from NCCS, Pune) and exposed to PFOA at concentrations of 10
μg/ml, 50μg/ml and 100 μg/ml over a period of 24 h. The effects of PFOA on cell
proliferation and apoptosis were analyzed via flow cytometry and caspase-3 levels
in TM3 cells were determined by calorimetric assay. The results indicate that PFOA
treatment at all concentrations significantly decreased the live cells as compared
to the control cells.
Further, the levels of caspase-3 were significantly elevated in PFOA treated TM3
cells in a dose-dependent manner as compared to the controls. Resveratrol treatment
on the other hand showed ameliorative effects on testosterone biosynthesis, associated
with reduced apoptosis rate in PFOA treated cells. Significant elevation of StAR
mRNA levels was noticed in TM3 Leydig cells treated with both PFOA and resveratrol
at selected concentrations. In silico analysis also revealed that the binding affinity
of PFOA with ratStAR was greater than that of cholesterol-ratStAR protein. Taken
together, our data suggest that PFOA-induced TM3 cell toxic effect may involve caspase-3
mediated death receptor signaling pathway and resveratrol with its antioxidant and
steroidogenic effects restoring TM3 Leydig cells against PFOA-induced toxicity.
