Vitamin E fails to prevent bisphenol S induced testicular damage in diabetic rats

Bisphenol S (BPS) is a recognized environmental contaminant that harms reproductive organs and fertility, affecting human health worldwide. Over the last few decades, the search for a compound that mitigates its harmful effects has increased. Vitamin E has not been evaluated in diabetic rats as a study model. We assessed for the first time the use of Vitamin E as a potential ameliorant compound. We used 26 Wistar rats, and assigned it randomly in five groups: (1) healthy rats (Ctrl, n = 6); (2) diabetic rats without treatment (Ctrl-D, n = 5); (3) diabetic rats treated with Vitamin E (100 mg/kg bw/day, VitE-D, n = 5); (4) diabetic rats treated with BPS (100 mg/kg bw/day, BPS-D, n = 5); and, (5) diabetic rats receiving a combination of Vitamin E (100 mg/kg bw/day) and BPS (100 mg/kg bw/day) (VitE + BPS-D, n = 5). All doses were administered orally (p.o.). We evaluated its effect on serum estradiol and testosterone levels, testis cellular apoptosis, antioxidant enzyme activity, and sperm and testicular histologic characteristics. BPS increases oxidative stress, promotes cell apoptosis, provokes structural changes in seminiferous tubules, and negatively affects spermatogenesis and sperm quality. As a result of our study, co-administration of Vitamin E did not reduce the negative impact provoked by BPS; indeed, in some cases, the vitamin exacerbated the injury. The beneficial effects of VitE on testosterone serum levels were nullified when combined with BPS. Our results show the dangers of BPS to male reproductive health in the diabetes model and stress the necessity for improved strategies to mitigate its deleterious impacts.