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Taurine Attenuates Repeated Heat Stress-Induced Male Reproductive Dysfunction in Mice: Associations with HPG Axis
Bin Li1,2, Ruixi Ming3, Yumeng Liu4
1Institute of Comparative Medicine, Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225009, Jiangsu, China. 008480@yzu.edu.cn.
Abstract:
Heat stress (HS)-induced male reproductive dysfunction is usually interpreted within a testis-centered framework, whereas the contribution of central neuroendocrine disturbance remains less well defined. In the present study, a repeated HS mouse model was used to examine whether taurine pretreatment attenuates reproductive dysfunction by integrating local testicular endpoints with HPG-axis-related and hypothalamic inflammatory readouts. Male C57BL/6J mice were assigned to control, HS + vehicle, and HS + taurine groups. Mice in the HS groups were exposed to 40 ± 1 °C for 1 h daily for 14 consecutive days, and taurine was administered intraperitoneally before each heat exposure. Sperm parameters, testicular histopathology, inflammatory, oxidative, apoptotic, endocrine, and hypothalamic microglial endpoints were assessed. Repeated HS impaired sperm motility and concentration, increased abnormal sperm morphology, and caused marked histopathological injury in the testes. These changes were accompanied by increased testicular inflammation, oxidative stress, and apoptosis. HS also disrupted HPG-axis hormone homeostasis, as reflected by altered hypothalamic Gnrh expression, pituitary Lhb and Fshb expression, and circulating reproductive hormone levels. In parallel, repeated HS was associated with hypothalamic microglial activation, increased inflammatory responses, and increased microglia-GnRH overlap. Taurine pretreatment significantly attenuated sperm dysfunction and testicular injury, reduced inflammatory, oxidative, and apoptotic alterations, partially restored endocrine homeostasis, and reduced hypothalamic microglial responses. Together, these findings show that taurine alleviates repeated HS-induced male reproductive dysfunction with coordinated improvements in testicular injury, endocrine imbalance, and hypothalamic inflammatory responses. However, the hypothalamic findings are associative and do not establish causality.