Doctorado en Biología Experimental. Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana. Unidad Iztapalapa. Ciudad de México, México; and Laboratorio de Morfofisiología y Bioquímica del Espermatozoide, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana. Unidad Iztapalapa. Ciudad de México, México.
Laboratorio de Biología de la Reproducción, Instituto Nacional de Pediatría, Ciudad de México, México.
Reprod Fertil Dev. 2021 Dec;33(18):855-864. doi: 10.1071/RD21081.
The epididymis is an organ that performs all the biochemical changes responsible for sperm maturation. During ageing, histological alterations in the epididymis and decreased protein synthesis have been found. This might affect the sperm maturation process. The aim of this study was to determine if the changes in the epididymis during ageing might cause alterations in sperm maturation. Wistar rats of 3-4months old (young) and 18-21months old (old) were used. The testosterone concentration was determined and the epididymides were dissected and divided in three regions: caput, corpus, and cauda. The tissues were used for histological processing and sperm extraction. Testosterone concentration decreased 34% in the old animals compared to the young ones. The distribution of mannose, sialic acid, and N-acetylglucosamine in the glycocalyx of the sperm membrane of old animals was different from that of young animals. The same occurred with phosphatidylserine externalisation and protein phosphorylation at tyrosine residues. Epididymis histology in old animals showed tubular and cellular degeneration. Our results suggest that ageing affects maturational markers, likely due to alterations in the epididymis as a result of the testosterone decrease associated with ageing.
附睾是一个执行所有生化变化以促进精子成熟的器官。随着年龄的增长，附睾的组织学改变和蛋白质合成减少已经被发现。这可能会影响精子的成熟过程。本研究旨在确定随着年龄的增长，附睾的变化是否会导致精子成熟的改变。使用了 3-4 个月大（年轻）和 18-21 个月大（年老）的 Wistar 大鼠。测定了睾酮浓度，并分离了附睾并分为三个区域：头部、体部和尾部。组织用于组织学处理和精子提取。与年轻动物相比，老年动物的睾酮浓度下降了 34%。老年动物精子膜糖萼中甘露糖、唾液酸和 N-乙酰葡萄糖胺的分布与年轻动物不同。同样的情况也发生在磷脂酰丝氨酸外显和酪氨酸残基的蛋白质磷酸化上。老年动物的附睾组织学显示出管状和细胞退化。我们的结果表明，衰老会影响成熟标志物，这可能是由于与衰老相关的睾酮下降导致附睾的改变所致。
