中医药调控细胞自噬治疗少弱精子症研究进展

Traditional Chinese medicine to treat oligoasthenozoospermia by regulating cellular autophagy

少弱精子症(OAS)是引起男性不育症的主要因素。目前病因及发病机制仍不明确。研究显示自噬与男性生殖密切相关,尤其是精子发生和成熟过程中的生物合成和分解代谢。尽管如此,自噬在这些过程中是起到保护或是有害作用,这一问题仍不清楚。中医药治疗OAS临床疗效确切,其作用机制可能与细胞自噬及其相关标志物或通路关系密切。本文将系统总结细胞自噬在精子发生和成熟过程中的作用,并从中医药调控细胞自噬过程,进而对OAS发挥治疗作用进行综述,以期深入挖掘中医药治疗OAS潜在作用机制,为进一步提升中医药治疗OAS的临床疗效提供参考。

Oligoasthenozoospermia(OAS)is the main factor for male infertility,and the cause and pathogenesis of the disease remain unknown.Emerging data indicate that cellular autophagy is closely correlated with male reproduction,especially the biosynthetic and catabolic processes of spermatogenesis and sperm maturation.Nonetheless,it is not yet clear whether autophagy plays a protective or a harmful role in these processes.Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)has exhibited a definite therapeutic effect on OAS,and its action mechanism might be closely associated with cellular autophogy,and its related markers and pathways.This article systematically reviews the role of cellular autophagy in spermatogenesis and sperm maturation,as well as the therapeutic effect of TCM on OAS by regulating the process of autophagy,aiming to gain a deeper insight into the potential mechanism of TCM acting on OAS and provide some references for further improvement of its clinical efficacy.