Effects of a high-fat diet on rat epididymis.
Sara FalvoDebora LatinoAlessandra SantilloGabriella Chieffi BaccariRosalba SeneseFrancesca NuzzolilloMaria Maddalena Di FiorePublished in: Journal of experimental zoology. Part A, Ecological and integrative physiology (2023)
The epididymis plays an essential role in reproduction, promoting sperm cell maturation. In this study, we investigated the effects of a high-fat diet (HFD) in the three regions of the epididymis of rats, including caput, corpus, and cauda. Our results showed an increase in malondialdehyde and a decrease in superoxide dismutase, which indicated an increase in oxidative stress in all segments of the epididymis. The cellular response mechanisms were mostly detected in the corpus/cauda regions, which showed an increase in apoptosis, probably for eliminating dysfunctional cells arising from HFD-induced oxidative stress, and a decrease in mitophagy. Additionally, an increase in lipophagy to prevent lipid accumulation and a decrease in cell proliferation were recorded in the corpus.
Keyphrases
- high fat diet
- oxidative stress
- adipose tissue
- insulin resistance
- induced apoptosis
- cell cycle arrest
- cell proliferation
- endoplasmic reticulum stress
- hydrogen peroxide
- dna damage
- cell death
- type diabetes
- stem cells
- single cell
- mass spectrometry
- diabetic rats
- signaling pathway
- skeletal muscle
- bone marrow
- mesenchymal stem cells