查看文章

Obesity is regarded a global public health crisis. It has been implicated in a variety of health problems, but when it comes to male fertility, how and to what extent obesity affects it are poorly understood.

Accordingly, semen samples from 32 individuals with obesity (body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 kg/m²) and 32 individuals with normal weight (BMI: 18.5-25 kg/m²) were obtained. Here, for the first time, we examined the association between obesity, relative sperm telomere length (STL) and autophagy-related mRNA levels such as Beclin1, AMPKa1, ULK1, BAX, and BCL2. Each group was also evaluated for conventional semen parameters, sperm apoptotic changes, DNA fragmentation index (DFI), sperm chromatin maturation, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels.

Based on our findings, there was a marked reduction in relative STL in individuals with obesity as compared to the normal-weight …