Significance and expression of Caspase-3 in ethanol-induced testis injury model

Objective To explore the changes and significance of expression of Caspase-3 in the ethanol-induced testis injury model.Methods Twenty-four adult male mice were randomly divided into control (n =12) and ethanol (n =12) groups.The mice in the ethanol group were given intra-peritoneal injection (IP) of ethanol at a dose of 3 g (15％,v/v) per kg body weight per day during the period of 14 days,to establish testicular damage model.All mice were sacrificed and the testes were collected.Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Real-time PCR) and Western blotting were applied to detect the expression of Caspase-3 mRNA and protein respectively.Results The results of Real-time quantitative PCR showed that the expression of Caspase-3 mRNA in ethanol group (3.35 ± 0.13) was significantly higher than in control group (P ＜ 0.05).Western blotting revealed that the Caspase-3 protein expression (44.51 ± 8.94) was significantly higher in ethanol group than in control group (140.66 ±6.25,P ＜0.05).Conclusion Caspase-3 as an important pro-apoptotic gene may participate in the process of testicular damage by ethanol. Key words: Ethanol;  Testis ;  Caspase-3