Overweight in young males reduce fertility in rabbit model

Abstract

Semen quality has certainly declined over the past few decades, possibly owing to modern lifestyle factors. In this sense, the role of overweight and obesity in the development of subfertility in males has generated a considerable amount of interest in recent years. However, there is no consensus on whether overweight or obesity impaired sperm quality. Thus, based on the ongoing debate about risk factors for subfertility associated with overweight and obesity in men, this study was designed to investigate the effect of overweight on sperm quality parameters and fertility success in randomized controlled trial in a rabbit model. Fourteen male rabbits were randomly assigned to a control group in which nutritional requirements were satisfied or a group fed to satiety from 12 to 32 weeks of age. At 24 weeks of age, semen samples were analysed weekly by conventional semen analysis for 8 weeks. In addition, during the trial female rabbits were artificially inseminated by each male to assess the fertility success and the number of offspring. Young males fed to satiety were associated with a significant increase in body weight (13.6% overweight) and perirenal fat thickness (5%). Male overweight presented a significant decrease in sperm concentration. There were no differences in the remaining sperm parameters. However, male overweight showed a clear and significant decrease in fertility success (control group, 64±8.9% versus fed to satiety group, 35±9.2%), but not in the number of offspring. Taken together, our findings provide new evidence on the loss of fertility induced by overweight in males.

Long term conjugated linoleic acid supplementation modestly improved growth performance but induced testicular tissue apoptosis and reduced sperm quality in male rabbit

“…Our data suggest that feeding 1% CLA negatively impacted sperm nutrition by reducing epididymal fat PUFA portion and disappearance of fat globules in the epididymis. The reduced PUFA might be consequence also of a higher oxidative status with lower antioxidant capacity, as indicated by the lower vitamin E, L-carnitine, and GPX gene expression and by the higher accumulation of MDA in testicular tissue [49][50][51]. The increased MDA and downregulation of testicular GPX transcript in our study was similar to prior findings [52].…”

“…Supplementation of 1% CLA for 26 weeks tended to reduce the level of arachidonic acid in epididymal fat pad, similar to a prior study [59]. Arachidonic acid is essential for the synthesis of prostaglandin D2, known to inhibit cyclooxygenase-2-induced apoptosis [49].…”

“…The negative effect of CLA 1% on sperm progressive motility as well other motility parameters measured, might be due to changes in epididymal histological structure, fatty acid profile, and gene expression. PUFA are a special fatty acid components of sperm plasma membrane [49], they easily undergo lipoperoxidation; thus, presence of powerful antioxidant system to protect them from lipoperoxidative damage is crucial.…”

Can Dietary n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Affect Apelin and Resolvin in Testis and Sperm of Male Rabbits?

“…Rabbit represents a good animal model for studying sperm modifications due to the diet of other stressors (infection, inflammation, etc.) [19][20][21].…”

Pathogenetic aspects of male subfertility in obesity: a review of experimental and clinical studies

“…жизни, при этом различия в других параметрах спермограммы отсутствовали. Одновременно было показано значительное снижение успешности зачатия у кроликов с избыточной массой тела (35 ± 9,2 %) по сравнению с контрольной группой, где данный показатель составил 64 ± 8,9 % [7].…”