ABSTRACT
Objective Lipid metabolism disorder can lead to male sterility, but its mechanism of affecting spermatogenesis and testis microenvironment remains unclear.This study aimed to investigate the effects of high fat diet on reproductive function and the expression of Ox-LDL within testis in male mice. Methods 16 C57BL/6 mice aged 8 weeks were divided into two groups by random number table method.High fat diet group was fed with high fat diet while normal fat diet group was fed with normal fat diet .At the end of 16 weeks, the levels of TG, TC, Ox-LDL and testosterone in serum were measured.The sperm concentration and motility from caudal epi-didymis were analyzed.The testis structure was observed by HE stai-ning.The localization and expression of Ox-LDL in testis were detec-ted by immunohistochemical technique. Results Compared with the normal diet group mice, the body weight (P0.05).The serum level of testosterone[(3.64 ±0.43)mg/L vs (0.40 ±0.14) mg/L, P<0.01], the sperm concentration[(9.95 ±0.75)106/mL vs (5.66 ±1.51)106/mL, P<0.01] and the sperm motility[(54.69 ±17.84)%vs (32.48 ±5.80)%, P<0.01] decreased in high fat diet group significantly.HE staining also showed that the amount of Leydig cells, spermatids and spermatozoons reduced obvi-ously in high fat diet group.Immunohistochemistry staining showed that Ox-LDL was mainly distributed around Leydig cells of mice tes-tis.The expression of Ox-LDL in high fat diet group increased significantly ( P<0.01) . Conclusion The expression of Ox-LDL in Leydig cells of high fat diet C57BL/6J mice increases significantly, which may inhibit testosterone biosynthesis and affect spermatogen-ic function.