Abstract
BackgroundObesity, a common metabolic disease, is a known cause of male infertility due to its associated health risk. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have also been reported to be associated with male reproductive diseases; however, their role in the association between high-fat diet-induced obesity (DIO) and male reproduction remains unclear.MethodsWe used microarray analysis to compare the expression levels of lncRNAs and mRNAs in the spermatozoa of rats with DIO and normal rats. We selected a few lncRNAs that were obviously up-regulated or down-regulated, and then used RT-PCR to verify the accuracy of their expression. We then performed a functional enrichment analysis of the differentially expressed mRNAs using gene ontology and pathway analysis. Finally, target gene predictive analysis was used to explore the relationship between lncRNAs and mRNAs.ResultsThe results revealed a statistically significant difference in the fasting blood glucose level in rats with DIO and control rats. We found that 973 lncRNAs and 2,994 mRNAs were differentially expressed in the sperm samples of the DIO rats, compared to the controls. GO enrichment analysis revealed 263 biological process terms, 39 cellular component terms, and 40 molecular function terms (p < 0.01) in the differentially expressed mRNAs. The pathway analysis showed that metabolic pathways were most enriched in protein-coding genes.DiscussionTo the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to show differences in the expression levels of lncRNAs and mRNAs in the sperms of rats with DIO and normal rats, and to determine the expression profile of lncRNAs in the sperm of rats with DIO. Our results have revealed a number of lncRNAs and pathways associated with obesity-induced infertility, including metabolic pathways. These pathways could be new candidates that help cope with and investigate the mechanisms behind the progression of obesity-induced male infertility.
Highlights
Obesity is a serious, chronic metabolic disease with several comorbidities, including non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, high cholesterol, heart disease, hypertension, cancer, and psychological depression (Adams & Murphy, 2000; Kushner & Bessesen, 2007)
The results showed that the levels of highdensity lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and TG in the diet-induced obesity (DIO) group were not significantly higher than those in the control group
We detected the abnormal expression of Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) and mRNAs in the sperm samples of DIO rats, and analyzed the potential roles of mRNAs through bioinformatics
Summary
Chronic metabolic disease with several comorbidities, including non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, high cholesterol, heart disease, hypertension, cancer, and psychological depression (Adams & Murphy, 2000; Kushner & Bessesen, 2007). Recent studies (Matsumoto et al, 2017) have shown that lncRNAs can be translated to encode functional peptide segments They can participate in various biological processes, including cell cycle regulation, differentiation, and epigenetic regulation (Wu et al, 2016; Rinn & Chang, 2012). Many studies, including ours, have established an association between lncRNAs and male reproduction by revealing differences in the expression profiles of lncRNAs in the spermatozoon of mice with high-fat diet-induced obesity (DIO), diabetic mice, and normal mice (Bao et al, 2013). GO enrichment analysis revealed 263 biological process terms, cellular component terms, and molecular function terms (p < 0.01) in the differentially expressed mRNAs. The pathway analysis showed that metabolic pathways were most enriched in protein-coding genes. These pathways could be new candidates that help cope with and investigate the mechanisms behind the progression of obesity-induced male infertility
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