Tortoise-shell glue ameliorates male infertility through the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis in obese rats

ABSTRACT

Background

Male infertility is a worldwide population health concern, but its etiology remains poorly understood. Tortoise-shell glue (TSG) is widely utilized as a pharmaceutical or dietary supplement for various health ailments. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of TSG on male infertility in obese rats.

Methods

A male infertility with obesity rat model was established after a high-fat diet (HFD) and cyclophosphamide (CTX) treatment. The body weight, testis weight, and weight of adipose tissues around the epididymis were detected. We then evaluated spermatozoon motility and concentration and testis pathological changes. Next, we assessed the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis. Moreover, serum metabolomics was used to identify differential metabolites. The Spearman correlation analysis was employed to assess the correlation between differential metabolites and sex hormone levels.

Results

Here, we demonstrated that TSG alleviated obesity and male infertility. Meanwhile, TSG restored the function of the HPG axis in obese infertility rats, including mRNA levels of GnRH, GnRHR, RFRP-3, and kisspeptin in the hypothalamus and pituitary and sex hormone levels in the serum. In addition, 16 potentially significant metabolites, such as Quinapril and Malabaricone C, were identified as significant in the therapeutic effects of TSG on male infertility. The majority of these differential metabolites exhibited recovery following TSG treatment. The further Spearman analysis demonstrated the close correlation between differential metabolites and sex hormones, especially Kamahine C.

Conclusion

TSG attenuated obesity and male infertility in rats through the HPG axis by regulating serum metabolites. It shows potential as a viable treatment option for male infertility.

KEYWORDS:

• Tortoise-shell glue
• male infertility
• obesity
• hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis
• serum metabolism

Disclosure statement

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

Ethics approval

The animal experimental protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine (LLBH-202304030005).

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by Excellent Youth Project of Scientific Research Program of Hunan Education Department [grant no. 22B0370], and Project of Traditional Chinese Medicine Administration of Hunan Province [grant no. B2023034].