Specific activity of Korean red ginseng saponin and non-saponin fractions in ageing-induced rat testicular dysfunction

- KRG fractions attenuated ageing-induced rat testicular dysfunction.
- KRG fractions enhanced the antioxidant status in aged rat testes.
- KRG fractions regulated sex hormonal receptor expression aged rat testes.
- KRG and its fractions showed distinctive beneficial effects.

Korean red ginseng (Panax ginseng Meyer, KRG) is a functional food with multiple therapeutic benefits. This study evaluated the fraction-specific effects of KRG in ageing-induced testicular dysfunction rat model. KRG water extract (KRG-WE; 200 mg/kg), crude saponin (CS; 20 mg/kg), and non-saponin (NS; 180 mg/kg) fractions were administered orally for six months. Body weight increments, blood chemistry, histological parameters, sperm kinematics, expression levels of key spermatogenesis molecules and anti-oxidative enzyme status were determined in vehicle treated young and aged control groups. KRG-WE, CS and NS fractions significantly (p < 0.05) ameliorated the ageing-induced testicular damage in all the parameters tested. Although total KRG-WE outperformed the tested activities, both CS and NS fractions also exhibited distinct effects in improving ageing-induced testicular dysfunction in rats. The potential non-saponin active constituents in combination with CS fraction might be responsible for such synergistic effect. More detailed study on the KRG-NS fraction active constituents is quite essential.