[Mechanism of ferroptosis in regulating testicular spermatogenic dysfunction: Progress in research]

Ferroptosis is a new type of cell death found in recent years, which is characterized by iron overload, excessive accumulation of lipid peroxide and destruction of mitochondrial structure. Testicular spermatogenic dysfunction (TSD) is an important factor affecting the health and quality of life of middle-aged and elderly men. Studies show that ferroptosis plays an important role in the development and progression of TSD, mainly involved in the mechanisms of abnormal iron metabolism, lipid peroxidation, oxidative stress response and mitochondrial damage. It is believed that ferroptosis can induce a series of symptoms, such as sperm quality and quantity reduction and spermatogenesis disorder. Therefore, inhibiting the development of ferroptosis can provide a new basis for the study of the mechanisms of the disease. This review focuses on the concept and characteristics of ferroptosis and the advances in the studies of the its mechanism in regulating TSD, with the purpose of introducing the clinical application prospect of targeted inhibition of ferroptosis in the prevention and treatment of TSD and expanding the ideas for the treatment of TSD and other male reproductive diseases.