High levels of testicular interleukin-1 could be involved in the impairment of male fertility of IL-1 receptor antagonist knock-out mice or mice with systemic infection/inflammation

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: IL-1 family composed of IL-1a, IL-1b (have similar functions and binding to the same receptor) and IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1 ra), the natural inhibitor of IL-1. The constitutive levels of testicular IL-1 increased following systemic or local inflammation/infection. These factors decrease testicular steroidogenesis. Recently, we have shown impairment in the fertility of IL-1 ra knock-out (KO) (50% reduction) as compared to wild-type (WT) mice. Our objective was to examine the possible involvement of IL-1 in this impairment.