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Accelerated aging of reproductive capacity in male rat offspring of protein-restricted mothers is associated with increased testicular and sperm oxidative stress

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Abstract

Maternal protein restriction (MPR) in pregnancy causes life course organ dysfunction, but few studies link the developmental origins of disease hypothesis to early aging. Suboptimal developmental nutrition increases oxidative stress (OS) and male infertility, damaging sperm function. We hypothesized that MPR in pregnancy accelerates age-related changes in testicular and sperm function related to both maternal diet and increased testicular OS in rat offspring. We studied male rats whose pregnant mothers ate either control (C, 20 % casein) or restricted (R, 10 % casein) isocaloric diet. After birth, mothers and offspring ate C diet. Testes were retrieved at 19 days gestation and across the life course (postnatal day (PND) 21, 36, 110, and 850) to measure OS markers, antioxidant enzymes, serum FSH, LH, and testosterone, and PND 110 sperm OS and quality. Fertility rate was evaluated at PND 110, 450, and 850. Offspring showed age- and MPR-related changes in testosterone, testicular OS markers and antioxidant enzymes and fertility, and maternal diet-related OS and sperm antioxidant enzyme changes. Developmental programming is considered a key factor in predisposing to chronic disease. Our data show that programming also plays an important role in aging trajectory. This interaction is a little studied area in aging biology that merits more investigation.

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Abbreviations

C:

Control

dG:

Days of gestation DCF 2’,7’-dichlorofluorescein

FSH:

Follicle-stimulating hormone

GPx:

Glutathione peroxidase

LH:

Luteinizing hormone

MDA:

Malonaldialdehyde

OS:

Oxidative stress

PND:

Postnatal days

RIA:

Radioimmunoassay

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

R:

Restricted

SOD:

Superoxide dismutase

TBARS:

Thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances assay

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Acknowledgments

Rodríguez-González GL and Reyes-Castro LA are graduate students from Doctorado en Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, and Carlos Ibáñez is a graduate student from Doctorado en Ciencias Bioquímicas, Facultad de Química, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México—recipients of Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACyT) fellowship. This work was supported by CONACyT México 155166.

Conflict of interest

The authors have nothing to disclose and have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Reproductive Biology Department, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Mexico City, 14000, Mexico, Mexico

    Guadalupe L. Rodríguez-González, Luis A. Reyes-Castro, Claudia C. Vega, Lourdes Boeck, Carlos Ibáñez, Fernando Larrea & Elena Zambrano

  2. Center for Pregnancy and Newborn Research; Department of Obstetrics, University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, 78229, USA

    Peter W. Nathanielsz

Authors
  1. Guadalupe L. Rodríguez-González
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  2. Luis A. Reyes-Castro
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  3. Claudia C. Vega
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  4. Lourdes Boeck
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  5. Carlos Ibáñez
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  6. Peter W. Nathanielsz
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  7. Fernando Larrea
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  8. Elena Zambrano
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Correspondence to Elena Zambrano.

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Rodríguez-González, G.L., Reyes-Castro, L.A., Vega, C.C. et al. Accelerated aging of reproductive capacity in male rat offspring of protein-restricted mothers is associated with increased testicular and sperm oxidative stress. AGE 36, 9721 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-014-9721-5

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