Influence of hyperproteinemia on reproductive development in an invertebrate model

Hyperproteinemia is a severe metabolic disease characterized by abnormally elevated plasma protein concentrations (PPC). However, there is currently no reliable animal model for PPC, and the pathological mechanism of hyperproteinemia thus remains unclear. In this study, we evaluated the effects of hyperproteinemia on reproductive development in an invertebrate silkworm model with a controllable PPC and no primary disease effects. High PPC inhibited the synthesis of vitellogenin and 30K protein essential for female ovarian development in the fat body of metabolic tissues, and inhibited their transport through the hemolymph to the ovary. High PPC also induced programmed cell death in testis and ovary cells, slowed the development of germ cells, and significantly reduced the reproductive coefficient. Furthermore, the intensities and mechanisms of high-PPC-induced reproductive toxicity differed between sexes in this silkworm model.