Beware of diabetes; it affects the reproduction of mammals. Including humans!

Scientists from the BIOCEV Research Center in Vestec near Prague tried to answer the question of the relationship between infertility and diabetes, and how diabetes also affects reproduction in subsequent generations.

Both disorders are among what are known as civilization diseases. From a global perspective, 370 million people suffer from diabetes and their number is increasing. The press refers to this as the third millennium epidemic. Over 15 % of European couples of a reproductive age have problems getting pregnant. The male factor accounts for more than 60 % of infertility. Infertility in men is caused by a variety of factors – genetic and environmental factors, vascular diseases, and metabolic diseases. This also includes diabetes (diabetes mellitus).

“Long-term studies demonstrate that environmental factors can have a negative effect on reproductive parameters in male mice. We were wondering if diabetes could have a similar effect,” says Jana Pěknicová of the Laboratory of Reproductive Biology at the Biotechnology Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences. “In collaboration with Gabriela Pavlínková (Laboratory of Molecular Pathogenetics), who has been researching the effects of diabetes on embryos for a long time, we started to test the effect of diabetes on reproduction in a mouse model,” she adds.

A team of authors from both laboratories has found that a diabetic environment has a negative effect on a number of reproductive parameters in mice, especially on the histological picture of the testicle with a change in canal structure and sperm formation, and sperm concentration and quality. These changes were also caused by a change in the expression of the selected genes that are responsible for the creation of quality sperm.

However, scientists were most surprised that diabetes in males showed specific changes that occurred in male reproductive organs and sperm in subsequent generations. This intergenerational transmission indicates epigenetic changes in reproductive organs and sperm. “Therefore, our results point out that improving metabolic health at a reproductive age is necessary not only for women, but also for potential fathers in order to reduce susceptibility to diabetes and infertility in subsequent generations. In the next stage of our research, we will focus on male sperm in patients with diabetes, i.e. sperm quality that is essential for successful reproduction,” adds Jana Pěknicová.