Fundamental Toxicological Sciences

Paper Details

Fundamental Toxicological Sciences
Vol. 9 No. 1 January 15, 2022 p.7-16
Letter
Dietary rapeseed (canola) oil suppresses testosterone production and increases plasma aldosterone level in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP)
  • Naoki Ohara (College of Pharmacy, Kinjo Gakuin University / oharan@kinjo-u.ac.jp)
Mai Nishikawa 1) , Naoki Ohara 1) , Yukiko Naito 2) , Chihiro Amma 1) , Yoshiaki Saito 3) , Kenjiro Tatematsu 4) , Jinhua Baoyindugurong 5) , Daisuke Miyazawa 1) , Yoko Hashimoto 6) , Harumi Okuyama 1)
1) College of Pharmacy, Kinjo Gakuin University , 2) School of Allied Health Sciences, Kitasato University , 3) Hatano Research Institute, Food and Drug Safety Center , 4) Gifu Pharmaceutical University , 5) College of Food Science and Engineering, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University , 6) School of Dentistry, Aichi-Gakuin University
Keywords: Rapeseed (canola) oil, Testosterone, Aldosterone, Testicular toxicity, Stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHRSP)
Abstracts

The present study was conducted to survey the influence of canola oil (CAN) ingestion on the steroid hormone production in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP). Male SHRSP were fed a diet containing 10 wt/wt% soybean oil (SOY, the control) or CAN as the sole dietary fat for 8 weeks. Plasma concentration of luteinizing hormone (LH) was similar in the 2 dietary groups. However, the plasma testosterone level in the CAN group, 1.36 ± 0.271 ng/mL, was lower than in the SOY group, 2.79 ± 0.514 ng/mL (p < 0.05, unpaired t-test; n = 10), and plasma concentration of aldosterone in the CAN group, 345 ± 79.6 pg/mL, was higher than in the SOY group, 159 ± 33.7 pg/mL (p < 0.05, unpaired t-test; n = 10). In the testis, the expressions of mRNA for StAR, CYP11A1, CYP17, 3βHSD and 17βHSD and the amounts of the corresponding proteins were significantly decreased. However, in the adrenal gland, the expressions of mRNA for StAR, CYP11A1, 3βHSD and CYP11B1 in the CAN group were not different from those in the SOY group, but the expression of mRNA and the amount of the corresponding protein for CYP11B2 were increased significantly in the CAN group. These findings are indicative of a peripheral, testicular toxicity of CAN. The decreased testosterone and the concomitantly increased aldosterone may play a role in the aggravation by CAN of the genetic diseases (i.e., metabolic syndrome-like complications) in male SHRSP.