Could parental high-fat intake program the reproductive health of male offspring? A review

Author(s)

Sertorio, Marcela Nascimento ^{[1, 2]} ; Estadella, Debora ^[1] ; Ribeiro, Daniel Araki ^[1] ; Pisani, Luciana Pellegrini ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Fed Sao Paulo, Dept Biociencias, Santos, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Fed Sao Paulo, Programa Posgrad Nutr, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Review article
• Source: CRITICAL REVIEWS IN FOOD SCIENCE AND NUTRITION; AUG 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

High-fat diet (HFD) intake can cause overweight and obesity and has become a global public health concern in recent years. Nutritional adversity at vulnerable windows of development can affect developing cells and their functions, including germ cells. Evidence shows that parental HFD intake prior to conception and/or during gestation and lactation could program the reproductive health of male offspring, ultimately resulting in impairment of the first as well as subsequent generations. In male offspring, adipose tissue and hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis imbalance can impair the production of gonadotropins, leading to dysfunction of testosterone production and pubertal onset. The gonads can be directly impaired through oxidative stress, causing poor testosterone production and spermatogenesis; low sperm count, viability, and motility; and abnormal sperm morphology, which results in low sperm quality. Parental HFD intake could also be a risk factor for prostate hyperplasia and cancer in advanced age. It can impact the reproductive pattern of male offspring resulting in impairments in the subsequent generations. The investigation of semen quality must be extended to epidemiological and clinical studies of the male offspring of overweight and/or obese parents in order to improve the quality of human semen. This review addresses the effects of parental HFD intake on the reproductive parameters of male offspring and discusses the possible underlying mechanisms. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 19/09724-8 - Influence of maternal and paternal intake of hyperlipidic/hyperglycidic diet on the colon-hypothalamus of the offspring in the early adult life
• Grantee: Luciana Pellegrini Pisani
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 18/17412-3 - Effects of maternal and paternal intake of high fat and high sugar diet on male reproductive programming of offspring in early adulthood
• Grantee: Marcela Nascimento Sertorio
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate