Frequent and mild scrotal heat stress in mice epigenetically alters glucose metabolism in the male offspring.

Frequent and mild scrotal heat stress in mice epigenetically alters glucose metabolism in the male offspring. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2020 Jun 30;: Authors: Wan X, He X, Liu Q, Wang XT, Ding X, Li H Abstract Several studies have reported that health problems occur in assisted reproductive technology (ART)-conceived offspring. Recently, investigations have demonstrated that paternal environmental conditions influence offspring health. However, it is unclear whether the factors that cause male infertility per se affect offspring health and contribute to health problems in ART-born children. Scrotal heat stress represents a common cause for oligoasthenozoospermia, and in these cases, in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) is typically recommended for those individuals trying to conceive. We exposed C57BL/6J male mice to frequent and mild scrotal heat stress (fmSHS) (39 °C for 30 min once weekly for 5 consecutive weeks). Sperm was subjected to IVF-ET with oocytes of untreated C57BL/6J females to produce offspring mice. Glucose intolerance and insulin resistance was observed in the male offspring mice derived from fmSHS-exposed fathers. Islets, after evaluation, remained unchanged. Genes involved in glucose metabolism, especially, those in insulin signaling pathways, showed dysregulation in the liver of the fmSHS-derived male offspring. Differentially methylated regions were found in the sperm of fmSHS-exposed mice by who...
Source: American Journal of Physiology. Endocrinology and Metabolism - Category: Physiology Authors: Tags: Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab Source Type: research