Moderate concentration of Lactobacillus metabolites does not adversely affect mouse sperm

Abstract

Many couples in contemporary societies suffer from infertility of unexplained origins (idiopathic). A promising treatment strategy within this context involves the administration to women of preparations containing lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus) and/or their metabolites. Recent investigations underscore the role of lactobacilli in sustaining female fertility and enhancing the effectiveness of assisted reproductive techniques. There have also been reports describing the effect of lactobacilli on sperm functions, but our knowledge in this domain remains uncertain. In this study, the effect of supernatant from Lactobacillus rhamnosus culture on mouse sperm viability and motility was tested. The protective properties of lactobacilli metabolites against hydrogen peroxide-induced DNA damage were also verified. It was shown that the metabolites have no effect on viability, motility, and genome integrity of spermatozoa, but in excessive concentrations they become toxic. The obtained results imply that probiotic and/or postbiotic preparations taken by women should not adversely affect the sperm of their partners, provided the dose is correctly selected.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Sperm genome integrity
• sperm motility
• sperm viability
• supernatant from Lactobacillus culture
• vaginal probiotics

Acknowledgments

The author thanks IBSS BIOMED S.A., Kraków, Poland for providing the purified supernatant from L. rhamnosus 573 culture.

Ethics approval

According to the regulations of 2010/63/UE Directive and Polish Governmental Act on Animal Protection the euthanizing of animals to obtain tissues and organs for experimental research does not require the approval of ethics committee.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Authors’ contributions

Paper conceived, experiments performed, data analyzed, paper written and edited: KK.

Data availability statement

The author confirms that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Priority Research Area BioS under the Strategic Programme Excellence Initiative at Jagiellonian University.