Effect of Different Exercise Loads on Testicular Oxidative Stress and Reproductive Function in Obese Male Mice

Abstract

This study is aimed at investigating the effect of different exercise loads on the reproductive function of obese male mice and the underlying mechanisms. Male mice with high-fat diet-induced obesity were divided into obesity control (OC), obesity moderate-load exercise (OME), and obesity high-load exercise (OHE) groups. The OME and OHE groups were subjected to swimming exercise 5 days per week over a duration of 8 weeks, with the exercise load progressively increased to 2 h per day in the OME group and 2 h twice per day in the OHE group. In the OC group mice without exercise regimen, we observed a decrease in mRNA expression of antioxidant enzymes, increase in free radical products, upregulation of mRNA and protein expression of nuclear factor-κB and proinflammatory cytokines, inhibition of mRNA and protein expression of testosterone synthases, decrease in the serum testosterone level and sperm quality, and increase in sperm apoptosis. Although both moderate-load exercise and high-load exercise reduced body fat, only moderate-load exercise effectively alleviated obesity-induced oxidative stress, downregulated the expression of nuclear factor-κB and proinflammatory cytokines, and reversed the decrease in mRNA and protein expression of testosterone synthases, serum testosterone level, and sperm quality. These changes were not observed in the OHE group mice. Obesity-induced testicular oxidative stress and inflammatory response decreased testosterone synthesis and sperm quality. Moderate-load exercise alleviated the negative effect of obesity on male reproductive function by decreasing testicular oxidative stress and inflammatory responses. Although high-load exercise effectively reduced body fat, its effects on alleviating oxidative stress and improving male reproductive function were limited.

RETRACTED: Cinnamomum zeylanicum alleviate testicular damage induced by high fat diet in albino rats; histological and ultrastructural studies

“…The short and long-term high-fat diet increased Leydig cell pathological damage, apoptosis rate in addition to oxidative stress in testis tissue and high leptin level may provide some evidence to clarify the mechanisms of male secondary hypogonadism in obesity ( Pinto-Fochi et al., 2016 ). Moreover, Yi et al. (2020) recorded that animals fed high fat diet or high cholesterol diet recorded lower testosterone level and attributed this effect to the oxidative effect of these diets.…”

Oyster peptide prevents the occurrence of exercise‐hypogonadal male condition by improving the function of pituitary gonadal axis in male rats

“…Amplification was performed on the ABI 7500 thermocycler (Applied Biosystems) with the following procedure: pretreatment at 50°C for 2 min, pre‐denaturation at 95°C for 10 min, denaturation at 95°C for 15 s and annealing at 60°C for 60 s, with 40 cycles in total. At the end of the programme, the CT value of the target gene and the internal reference (GAPDH) were standardised to calculate the relative expression of the target gene (Yi et al., 2020). Primers for StAR, P450scc, 3β‐HSD, StARD7 and GAPDH were designed and synthesised by Shanghai Bioengineering.…”

Leptin and inflammatory factors play a synergistic role in the regulation of reproduction in male mice through hypothalamic kisspeptin-mediated energy balance

“…Our previous study showed that moderate- and heavy-load exercise increased energy consumption and reduced body fat in obese mice. However, only moderate-load exercise significantly improved gonadal hypofunction in obese male mice, while high-load exercise showed no significant effect [ 9 ]. The mechanism underlying this phenomenon was not clear.…”

“…In vitro, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-1 (IL-1) decreased GnRH secretion by downregulating kisspeptin signaling in the hypothalamus [ 19 , 20 ]. Moreover, a long-term positive energy balance can lead to the development of leptin resistance and chronic inflammatory response, both of which are closely related to exercise [ 9 , 21 ]. However, whether the two can work together to regulate the energy balance of the hypothalamic kiss neurons and regulate male reproductive function is unknown.…”