Male obesity is associated with sperm telomere shortening and aberrant mRNA expression of autophagy-related genes

Basic and Clinical Andrology

Research Article

Mohammad-Amin Abdollahifar¹  Marefat Ghaffari Novin¹  Zahra Shams Mofarahe¹  Mahsa Ghaffari Novin¹  Pourya Raee¹  Hamid Nazarian¹  Shahin Aghamiri² 

[1] Department of Biology and Anatomical Sciences, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran;Department of Biotechnology, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran;

关键词: Obesity;    Semen analysis;    DNA fragmentation;    Telomere;    Autophagy;    Reactive oxygen species;    Obésité;    Analyse du Sperme;    Fragmentation de l’ADN;    Télomère;    Autophagie;    Espèces réactives de l’Oxygène;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12610-023-00188-w

 received in 2022-10-16, accepted in 2023-01-26,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundObesity is regarded a global public health crisis. It has been implicated in a variety of health problems, but when it comes to male fertility, how and to what extent obesity affects it are poorly understood.Accordingly, semen samples from 32 individuals with obesity (body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 kg/m2)and 32 individuals with normal weight (BMI: 18.5-25 kg/m2)were obtained. Here, for the first time, we examined the association between obesity, relative sperm telomere length (STL) and autophagy-related mRNA levels such as Beclin1, AMPKa1, ULK1, BAX, and BCL2. Each group was also evaluated for conventional semen parameters, sperm apoptotic changes, DNA fragmentation index (DFI), sperm chromatin maturation, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels.ResultsBased on our findings, there was a marked reduction in relative STL in individuals with obesity as compared to the normal-weight group. We also found a significant negative correlation between relative STL and age, BMI, DFI, percentage of sperm with immature chromatin, and intracellular ROS levels in patients with obesity. In the normal-weight group, relative STL was only negatively correlated with DFI and intracellular ROS levels. Regarding mRNA expression, there was considerable upregulation of Beclin1, ULK1, and BCL2 in the group with obesity compared to the normal-weight group. Obesity was also found to be associated with a considerable decline in semen volume, total sperm count, progressive motility, and viability in comparison to normal-weight individuals. Furthermore, obesity was associated with considerably higher percentages of DFI, sperm with immature chromatin, late-stage apoptosis, and elevated ROS levels.ConclusionAccording to our findings, obesity is associated with sperm telomere shortening and aberrant autophagy-related mRNA expression. It should be emphasized that telomere shortening in sperm may be an indirect consequence of obesity due to the oxidative stress associated with the condition. Nevertheless, further investigation is required for a more comprehensive understanding.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

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