Endocrine Abstracts

Obesity incidence is increasing globally at an alarming rate, particularly amongst children and young adults. Male obesity has been linked with a reduction in sperm quality and consequently decreased fertilization rates. Seminal vesicles are considered fundamental for male fertility and though for men’s health. Vesicle seminal secretion contributes to a significant volume of seminal fluid, being extremely important for semen coagulation and sperm motility. Recent studies ...

Metabolic diseases represent a threatening worldwide epidemic that affects the entire body. It is known that metabolic diseases, namely diabetes, and obesity affect spermatogenesis via suppressing testosterone synthesis, inducing oxidative stress and other changes that lead to decreased male fertility. Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP1) receptor agonists, like liraglutide, are pharmacological agents recommended to normalize glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus....

Metabolic disorders, such as overweight and obesity, are serious health societal challenges due to their high incidence rates. Obesity leads to metabolic dysregulation, promoting hormonal imbalance, oxidative stress, and a chronic inflammation state. Eating habits towards the intake of highly caloric fat-rich regimes induce epigenetic changes in the information transgenerationally transmitted. Furthermore, obesity promotes carcinogenesis. It is known that the prostate is sensi...

In the last years estrogens have emerged as important regulators in male reproductive function. Spermatogenesis depends on the tight control of germ cell apoptosis and several studies indicated estrogens as playing a role in this process. The stem cell factor (SCF), a membrane-bound cytokine, and its receptor (c-kit), and the Fas ligand (FasL)/Fas receptor (FasR) system are powerful mechanisms controlling germ cell proliferation and apoptosis through the direct membrane commun...

IntroductionMetabolic homeostasis in the testis is essential for a healthy spermatogenesis. Insulin is regarded as one of the most important intervenients in the metabolic regulation of spermatogenesis, where it acts directly on the differentiation of spermatogonia into primary spermatocytes or indirectly through the metabolic modulation of Sertoli cells. Additionally, insulin is hypothesized to play a major role on human spermatozoa capacitation, althou...

Introduction: Mitochondrial uncoupling proteins (UCPs) are mitochondrial transmembrane channels belonging to the anion carrier family. Six UCP homologues (UCP1-6) had been identified with a ubiquitous distribution throughout the body and many different physiological functions. UCPs are important regulators of several biological processes, including thermogenesis, oxidative phosphorylation, ROS production, as well as cellular metabolism. However, the knowledge concerning the mo...

Infertility is a global health problem that affects about 15% of couples and approximately half of infertility cases are associated with male factors. Oxidative Stress (OS) is reported as one of the major causes of male infertility, mainly due to spermatozoa’s vulnerability to the attack of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Infertile couples often recur to assisted reproductive technology (ART) to achieve a successful pregnancy. However, ART protocols also increase the expos...

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) and insulin resistance (IR) in kidney cells are considered the main cause of end-stage renal failure. Additionally, hyperglycemia and increased fatty (FA) acids are observed in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, where lipid accumulation has been correlated to IR. Nonetheless, the impact of IR in early disease stages is still unclear. Moreover, proximal renal tubular cells have high mitochondrial content where aerobic respiration is their primary ...

Introduction: Mitochondrial uncoupling proteins (UCPs) are transmembrane channels present in the inner mitochondrial membrane whose function is the transport of protons and small substrates between the intermembrane space and the mitochondrial matrix. UCPs are key regulators of cellular metabolism, including mitochondrial function, oxidative phosphorylation, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. UCPs’ dysfunction has been associated with the onset of metabolic dis...

Infertility affects about 15% of couples, and, among these, 50% are related to the male factor. Male infertility can be caused by intrinsic factors, and these may either directly or indirectly affect gamete and testicular development as a consequence of endocrinopathies. In that sense, research regarding the involvement of endocrine hormones, particularly of nutritional status-linked hormones, in the male reproductive system has increased over the years. In fact, the rise on t...