College of Life Science, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410006, Hunan, China.
Division of Plant Science and Technology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA.
Food Funct. 2023 Jun 6;14(11):5105-5119. doi: 10.1039/d3fo00692a.
Selenium (Se), a well-known antioxidant, is important for male fertility and sperm quality. The gut microbiota is involved in vital activities and cross-talk between reproduction and the gut axis. It is still unclear whether the gut microbiota mediates the impact of selenium on semen quality, and what the underlying mechanisms may be. A selenized glucose (SeGlu) derivative is a novel organic Se compound. After 7 days of acclimation, the Sprague-Dawley (SD) male rats (230 g, 6 weeks) were divided into three drinking groups: deionized water group (CK), SeGlu 0.15 group (0.15 mg Se per L), and SeGlu 0.4 group (0.4 mg Se per L). All animals were euthanized 30 days post-treatment. Serum and intratesticular testosterone and semen parameters were measured. Metagenomic and non-targeted metabolomic approaches were used to study the effects of SeGlu on the gut microbiota and serum metabolites of rats. In both the SeGlu 0.15 Group and the SeGlu 0.4 Group, we found a significant increase in seminiferous epithelium thickness. While the SeGlu 0.4 Group had a tendency to increase with insignificant difference, the SeGlu 0.15 Group significantly improved the sperm viability, survival rate, and seminal plasma fructose. SeGlu had no effect on intratesticular testosterone levels, or abnormal sperm counts. Measured serum testosterone levels using ELISA and LC-MS, which showed a decreasing trend. ELISA did not reveal significant differences, but LC-MS indicated a significant decrease in SeGlu 0.4 group. Meanwhile, the SeGlu 0.15 Group reduced the abundance of harmful bacteria such as , , , and while increasing the abundance of beneficial microbiota such as , , , and . Linear discriminant analysis Effect Size (LEfSe) identified the SeGlu 0.15 group's feature genera as , , , and . Serum metabolites showed that the SeGlu 0.15 Group increased 5 beta-androstane-3,17-dione while decreasing estrone and 2-methoxyestradiol (2-MeOE2). In conclusion, the SeGlu 0.15 Group can significantly alter the levels of several sex hormones in serum, improve the quality of rats' sperm, and reduce harmful bacterial colonization. SeGlu 0.15 may be used as an effective dietary supplement.
硒（Se）是一种著名的抗氧化剂，对男性生育力和精子质量很重要。肠道微生物群参与重要的活动和生殖与肠道轴之间的相互作用。目前尚不清楚肠道微生物群是否介导硒对精液质量的影响，以及潜在的机制是什么。硒化葡萄糖（SeGlu）衍生物是一种新型的有机硒化合物。经过 7 天的适应期后，将 Sprague-Dawley（SD）雄性大鼠（230g，6 周）分为三组：去离子水组（CK）、SeGlu0.15 组（0.15mgSe/L）和 SeGlu0.4 组（0.4mgSe/L）。所有动物在处理后 30 天被安乐死。测量血清和睾丸内睾酮以及精液参数。使用宏基因组和非靶向代谢组学方法研究 SeGlu 对大鼠肠道微生物群和血清代谢物的影响。在 SeGlu0.15 组和 SeGlu0.4 组中，我们发现生精上皮厚度明显增加。虽然 SeGlu0.4 组有增加的趋势但差异不显著，但 SeGlu0.15 组显著提高了精子活力、存活率和精浆果糖。SeGlu 对睾丸内睾酮水平或异常精子计数没有影响。使用 ELISA 和 LC-MS 测量血清睾酮水平，发现呈下降趋势。ELISA 未显示出显著差异，但 LC-MS 表明 SeGlu0.4 组显著降低。同时，SeGlu0.15 组减少了有害细菌的丰度，如 、 、 、 ，同时增加了有益微生物群的丰度，如 、 、 、 。线性判别分析效应量（LEfSe）确定 SeGlu0.15 组的特征菌属为 、 、 、 。血清代谢物显示，SeGlu0.15 组增加了 5β-雄烷-3,17-二酮，同时降低了雌酮和 2-甲氧基雌二醇（2-MeOE2）。总之，SeGlu0.15 组可显著改变血清中几种性激素的水平，提高大鼠精子质量，减少有害细菌定植。SeGlu0.15 可作为一种有效的膳食补充剂。
