Aerobic exercise improves spermatogenesis of male rats: Results of iTRAQ-based proteomic analysis of the testis tissue
GUO Yu-ping
LI En-zhong
ZHANG You-jing
WANG An-li
Abstract：Objective:To investigate the effect of aerobic exercise on the spermatogenic function of male rats and screen out differentially expressed proteins related to spermatonesis-regulation by proteomic analysis.Methods:We randomly divided 24 SD male rats into groups A (non-exercise control),B (exercise),and C (weight-bearing exercise),those in the latter two groups made to swim for 60 minutes a day and those in group C bearing a load 3％ of the body weight,both 6 times a week for 9 weeks.At 24 hours after the last exercise,we obtained the sperm count,measured the levels of such serum reproductive hormones as testosterone (T),luteotrophic hormone (LH),follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH),and gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH),and employed isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ)-based proteomic analysis of the testicular tissue.Results:Compared with group A,group C showed significant increases in sperm concentration ([2.12 ± 0.43] vs [3.54 ± 0.52] × 106/ml,P ＜0.01) and thelevels of serum LH ([35.99 ± 2.90] vs [38.96 ± 1.34] IU/L,P ＜0.01) andT ([19.99 ± 0.25] vs [21.36 ± 0.53] nmol/L,P ＜0.01),but no statistically significant differences in GnRH ([623.95 ± 41.44] vs [641.82 ± 42.78] ng/L,P ＞ 0.05) and FSH ([20.49 ± 2.44] vs [22.29 ± 2.31] IU/L,P ＞ 0.05).No significant changes were observed in sperm concentration or reproductive hormone levels in group B as compared with A.Group B exhibited obviously more mature sperm and cell layers in the seminiferous epithelium than group A.A total of 47 differentially expressed proteins were identified,of which 37 were up-regulated and the other 10 down-regulated.In addition,another 5 significantly differentially expressed proteins closely related to reproductive function were identified,including up-regulated Anx A1,GPX3,Rimbp3,and Dpy19l2 and down-regulated CYP17.Enrichment analysis showed that the differentially expressed proteins were mainly involved in extracellular matrix-receptor interaction,protein digestion and absorption,and focal adhesion pathways.Conclusion:Proper-intensity exercise can improve the spermatogenic function of rats.Aerobic exercise promotes spermatogenesis mainly by up-regulating the expressions of the proteins related to the production and differentiation of spermatozoa.
Keywords：aerobic exercisespermatogenic functionisobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitationproteomicsrat
Publication Date：2017-09-01
Online Publishing Date：2025-08-15(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：6( 776-781 )