Indian Journal of Animal Research

  • Chief EditorK.M.L. Pathak

  • Print ISSN 0367-6722

  • Online ISSN 0976-0555

  • NAAS Rating 6.50

  • SJR 0.263

  • Impact Factor 0.4 (2024)

Frequency :
Monthly (January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December)
Indexing Services :
Science Citation Index Expanded, BIOSIS Preview, ISI Citation Index, Biological Abstracts, Scopus, AGRICOLA, Google Scholar, CrossRef, CAB Abstracting Journals, Chemical Abstracts, Indian Science Abstracts, EBSCO Indexing Services, Index Copernicus
Indian Journal of Animal Research, volume 53 issue 4 (april 2019) : 505-509

Effect of feeding high fat diet on reproductive parameters in male mice

Rosa J. Samuel, Omana Joy, P. Krishna Murthy, Shruthi Iyer, S.G. Ramachandra, K. Thamaraiselvi
1Central Animal Facility, Division of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore-560 012, Karnataka, India.
Cite article:- Samuel J. Rosa, Joy Omana, Murthy Krishna P., Iyer Shruthi, Ramachandra S.G., Thamaraiselvi K. (2018). Effect of feeding high fat diet on reproductive parameters in male mice. Indian Journal of Animal Research. 53(4): 505-509. doi: 10.18805/ijar.B-3528.
The present study attempts to chronicle the series of changes starting from the consumption of high fat diet till reproductive activity in male mice. A marginal increase in body weight was observed in male mice fed with high fat diet with 3-fold increase in total body fat and 1.4-fold increase in adipose tissue. A significant reduction in number and diameter of seminiferous tubules were observed in high fat diet fed mice compared to control mice. FACS analysis of testicular germ cells revealed very high percentage of apoptotic cells (84%) compared to control animals (2-3 %) indicative of reduced spermatogenic activity. In addition, a significant decrease in litter size (11.6%-Control to 3.66%-HFD) indicates that reproductive efficiency in high fat diet fed mice reduced to a great extent. The present study revealed high fat diet alters the fertility in male mice significantly and the first in this process appears to be apoptosis of testicular cells due to increase in ROS.
  1. Bakos, H.W., Mitchell, M., Setchell, B.P. and Lane, M. (2011). The effect of paternal diet-induced obesity on sperm function and fertilization in a mouse model. Int J Androl. 34: 402-410.
  2. Chavarro, J.E., Toth, T.L., Wright, D.L., Meeker, J.D. and Hauser, R. (2010). Body mass index in relation to semen quality, sperm DNA integrity, and serum reproductive hormone levels among men attending an infertility clinic. Fertil Steril. 93: 2222-2231.
  3. Dloniak, S.M., French, J.A., Place, N.J., Weldele, M.L., Glickman, S.E. and Holekamp, K.E. (2004). Non-invasive monitoring of fecal androgens in spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta). General and Comparative Endocrinology. 135: 51-61.
  4. Fejes, I., Koloszár, S., Szöllosi, J., Závaczki, Z. and Pál, A. (2005). Is semen quality affected by male body fat distribution? Andrologia. 37: 155-159.
  5. Fernandez, C.D.B., Bellentani, F.F., Fernandes, G.S.A., Perobelli, J.E., Favareto, A.P.A., Nascimento, A.F., Cicogna, A.C. and Kempinas, W.D.G. (2011). Diet-induced obesity in rats leads to a decrease in sperm motility. Reprod Biol Endocrinol. 9: 32.
  6. Gesink Law, D.C., Maclehose, R.F. and Longnecker, M.P. (2007). Obesity and time to pregnancy. Hum Reprod. 22: 414-420.
  7. Gesquiere, L.R., Ziegler, T.E., Chen, P.A., Epstein, K.A., Alberts, S.C. and Altmann, J. (2014). Measuring fecal testosterone in females and fecal estrogens in males: comparison of RIA and LC/MS/MS methods for wild baboons (Papio cynocephalus). Gen Comp Endocrinol. 204: 141-149.
  8. Goymann, W. (2012). On the use of non-invasive hormone research in uncontrolled, natural environments: the problem with sex, diet, metabolic rate and the individual. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 3: 757–765.
  9. Graber, C.D., O’neal, R.M. and Rabin, E.R. (1965). Effect of high fat diets on intestinal microflora and serum cholesterol in rats. J Bacteriol. 89: 47-51.
  10. Hammiche, F., Laven, J.S.E., Twigt, J.M., Boellaard, W.P.A., Steegers, E.A.P. and Steegers-Theunissen, R.P. (2012). Body mass index and central adiposity are associated with sperm quality in men of subfertile couples. Hum Reprod. 27: 2365-2372.
  11. Hammoud, A.O., Carrell, D.T., Gibson, M., Peterson, C.M. and Meikle, A.W. (2012). Updates on the relation of weight excess and reproductive function in men: sleep apnea as a new area of interest. Asian J Androl. 14: 77-81.
  12. Hammoud, A.O., Wilde, N., Gibson, M., Parks, A., Carrell, D.T. and Meikle, A.W. (2008). Male obesity and alteration in sperm parameters. Fertil Steril. 90: 2222-2225.
  13. Harishankar, N., Kumar, P.U., Sesikeran, B. and Giridharan, N. (2011). Obesity associated pathophysiological & histological changes in WNIN obese mutant rats. Indian J Med Res. 134: 330-340.
  14. Hofny, E.R.M., Ali, M.E., Abdel-Hafez, H.Z., Kamal, E.E.-D., Mohamed, E.E., Abd El-Azeem, H.G. and Mostafa, T. (2010). Semen parameters and hormonal profile in obese fertile and infertile males. Fertil Steril. 94: 581-584.
  15. Hussain, M.A., Abogresha, N.M., Hassan, R., Tamany, D.A. and Lotfy, M. (2016). Effect of feeding a high-fat diet independently of caloric intake on reproductive function in diet-induced obese female rats. Arch Med Sci. 12: 906-914.
  16. Jensen, T.K., Andersson, A.-M., Jørgensen, N., Andersen, A.-G., Carlsen, E., Petersen, J.H. and Skakkebaek, N.E. (2004). Body mass index in relation to semen quality and reproductive hormones among 1,558 Danish men. Fertil Steril. 82: 863-870.
  17. Jungheim, E.S., Travieso, J.L. and Hopeman, M.M. (2013). Weighing the impact of obesity on female reproductive function and fertility. Nutr Rev 71: S3-8.
  18. Liu, Y., Zhao, W., Gu, G., Lu, L., Feng, J., Guo, Q. and Ding, Z. (2014). Palmitoyl-protein thioesterase 1 (PPT1): an obesity-induced rat testicular marker of reduced fertility. Mol Reprod Dev 81: 55-65.
  19. Mann, A., Thompson, A., Robbins, N. and Blomkalns, A.L. (2014). Localization, identification, and excision of murine adipose depots. J Vis Exp 94. Doi: 10.3791/52174.
  20. Martini, A.C., Tissera, A., Estofán, D., Molina, R.I., Mangeaud, A., De Cuneo, M.F. and Ruiz, R.D. (2010). Overweight and seminal quality: a study of 794 patients. Fertil Steril. 94: 1739-1743.
  21. Mciver, C.M., Wycherley, T.P. and Clifton, P.M. (2012). MTOR signaling and ubiquitin-proteosome gene expression in the preservation of fat free mass following high protein, calorie restricted weight loss. Nutr Metab (Lond) 9: 83.
  22. Paasch, U., Grunewald, S., Kratzsch, J. and Glander, H.-J. (2010). Obesity and age affect male fertility potential. Fertil Steril. 94: 2898-2901.
  23. Pasquali, R., Pelusi, C., Genghini, S., Cacciari, M. and Gambineri, A. (2003). Obesity and reproductive disorders in women. Hum Reprod Update 9: 359-372.
  24. Pozarowski P, D.Z. (2004). Analysis of cell cycle by flow cytometry. Methods Mol Biol. 281: 301-311.
  25. Roza, N.A.V., Possignolo, L.F., Palanch, A.C. and Gontijo, J.A.R. (2016). Effect of long-term high-fat diet intake on peripheral insulin sensibility, blood pressure, and renal function in female rats. Food Nutr Res 60: 28536.
  26. Rybar, R., Kopecka, V., Prinosilova, P., Markova, P. and Rubes, J. (2011). Male obesity and age in relationship to semen parameters and sperm chromatin integrity. Andrologia. 43: 286-291.
  27. Shayeb, A.G., Harrild, K., Mathers, E. and Bhattacharya, S. (2011). An exploration of the association between male body mass index and semen quality. Reprod Biomed Online 23: 717-723.
  28. Spencer, M.W., Mühlfeld, A.S., Segerer, S., Hudkins, K.L., Kirk, E., Leboeuf, R.C. and Alpers, C.E. (2004). Hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia act synergistically to induce renal disease in LDL receptor-deficient BALB mice. Am J Nephrol. 24: 20-31.
  29. Tafuri, S., F.C., Eugenio Luigi Iorio, Luigi Esposito and Natascia Cocchia. (2015). Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) and Male Fertility. In New Discoveries in Embryology, D.B. Wu, ed., InTech. Doi: 10.5772/60632. 

Editorial Board

View all (0)