11. Impact of perinatal protein malnutrition on fertility in male offspring

Infertility represents a growing burden worldwide, with 1 in 7 couples experiencing difficulty conceiving. In approximately 50% of cases, this infertility is due to dysfunctional spermatogenesis in the male partner. However, 10 to 15% of men experience infertility that is not correlated with any defects in classical sperm parameters.

UNH researchers studied the effects of maternal protein malnutrition on fertility in male offspring in a rodent model. Mothers fed a low-protein diet during gestation and lactation gave birth to males with an overall decrease in fertility despite producing sperm with normal morphology, concentration, and motility. The researchers then demonstrated in vitro that this impaired fertility is linked to a defect in the sperm capacitation mechanism, a maturation step that occurs in the female reproductive tract and is necessary for oocyte fertilization. This reduced ability to fertilize occurs exclusively when copulation occurs several days before ovulation. This study demonstrates for the first time, in a model species, that maternal nutritional stress can have long-term consequences on the reproductive health of male offspring by affecting sperm physiology, without observable impact on sperm development and their classic quantitative and qualitative parameters.

DOI : 10.1093/biolre/ioab222

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