肥胖导致男性生育力低下的研究进展

Research progress in obesity-induced low fertility in males

育龄期男性的肥胖在全球范围内呈上升趋势。肥胖可干扰下丘脑-垂体-性腺轴的功能来改变睾酮和雌二醇的比例,影响瘦素和其他激素水平的稳态,也会导致表观遗传修饰的改变,并可发生跨代传递,影响后代健康。这两条途径都会降低男性生育力,其原因可能是肥胖使某些激素水平变化而引起表观遗传修饰的改变。本文将对肥胖影响内分泌激素和表观遗传修饰这两方面对男性生育力造成的不利影响进行综述,并进一步探讨内分泌激素改变表观遗传修饰对男性生育力的影响,为临床预防和治疗肥胖相关的男性生育力低下提供基础资料。

The prevalence of obesity in men of reproductive age is globally increasing. Obesity alters the ratio of testosterone to estradiol and the homeostasis of leptin and other hormone levels by interfering with the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axis. In addition,it may change epigenetic modifications and intergenerational transmission,which would affect the health of the offspring. Both of the pathways reduce male fertility,which may be associated with the obesity-induced change in the levels of some hormones and consequently the alteration of epigenetic modifications. This review focuses on the adverse effects of obesity on male fertility by influencing endocrine hormones and epigenetic modifications,and further discusses the effects of endocrine hormones on male fertility by epigenetic modification,aiming to provide some basic data for the prevention and treatment of obesity-related male fertility in clinical practice.