Presence of leptin and its receptor in the ram reproductive system and in vitro effect of leptin on sperm quality

作者：Yu Gao, Guodong Zhao, Yukun Song, Aerman Haire, Ailing Yang, Xi Zhao, Abulizi Wusiman · 发表于：PeerJ · 年份：2022 · DOI：10.7717/peerj.13982 · 被引用次数：10 · 研究领域：Sperm and Testicular Function、Regulation of Appetite and Obesity、Reproductive Physiology in Livestock

Leptin is a 16 kDa hormone encoded by obese ( OB ) gene in adipocytes. This molecule not only regulates energy metabolism but also plays a role in the reproduction of mammals. Leptin and its receptor ( OBR ) have been found in male reproductive systems of human, bovine, equine and pig. The effects of leptin on sperm quality vary widely from different research findings. However, the presence of leptin and its receptor in the ram reproductive system and the in vitro effect of leptin on sperm quality have not reported yet. In the present study, we found that the OB was highly expressed in primary and secondary spermatocytes of the testes, OBR was highly expressed in secondary spermatocytes of the testes. The expressions of OB were in stereocilia of epididymis and in columnar cells of epididymal caput and cauda, the expressions of OBR were in columnar cells of epididymis and in stereocilia of epididymal corpus and cauda. The presence of both OB and OBR in testes, epididymis and sperm were confirmed through RT-PCR, immunolocalization and Western blot analyses. The RT-qPCR results indicated OB and OBR had higher expression levels in epididymal sperm than that of the ejaculated sperm in rams. When sperm were treated with 5 ng/mL leptin, the progressive motility ( P < 0.01), straight-line velocity (VSL) ( P < 0.05), average path velocity (VAP) ( P < 0.05), membrane mitochondrial potential (MMP) ( P < 0.01) and viability ( P < 0.05) significantly increased, while DNA fr...