Rempuia Vanlal, Gurusubramanian Guruswami, Roy Vikas Kumar
Department of Zoology, Mizoram University, Aizawl, Mizoram, India.
J Neuroendocrinol. 2025 Aug;37(8):e70044. doi: 10.1111/jne.70044. Epub 2025 May 12.
Visfatin expression has been shown in the testis and pituitary. However, the role of visfatin in the pituitary and testis axis is fragmentary. Furthermore, no study has shown the effects of visfatin on the pituitary gonadotrophins and testicular steroid hormonal secretions in a male mouse. The present study has investigated the effects of exogenous visfatin (most likely a state of hypervisfatinemia) on the gonadotrophins, testosterone, estradiol, androstenedione, and progesterone in a male mouse. The exogenous visfatin was given for 35 days, which covers one spermatogenic cycle. The circulating testosterone was elevated after visfatin treatment, along with down-regulation of AR and steroidogenic markers in the testis. However, the expression of CYP17 was up-regulated in visfatin-treated testis. Visfatin treatment also elevated apoptosis in the different germ cells of the testis. The levels of circulating LH and FSH were also suppressed after visfatin treatment. The immunolocalization of AR exhibited decreased abundance in the pituitary of visfatin-treated mice; thus, it can be suggested that pituitary gonadotrophins secretion might be suppressed by direct action of visfatin rather than via elevated testosterone. In conclusion, our results showed that exogenous visfatin suppresses gonadotrophins and stimulates testicular testosterone secretions in a differential manner. Visfatin has inhibitory effects on pituitary gonadotrophins secretion and stimulatory effects on testosterone secretion from the testis. Thus, conditions similar to hypervisfatinemia likely impair the release of hormones from the pituitary and testis.
内脂素的表达已在睾丸和垂体中得到证实。然而，内脂素在垂体 - 睾丸轴中的作用尚不明确。此外，尚无研究表明内脂素对雄性小鼠垂体促性腺激素和睾丸类固醇激素分泌的影响。本研究调查了外源性内脂素（很可能是高内脂素血症状态）对雄性小鼠促性腺激素、睾酮、雌二醇、雄烯二酮和孕酮的影响。给予外源性内脂素35天，这涵盖了一个生精周期。内脂素处理后，循环睾酮升高，同时睾丸中雄激素受体（AR）和类固醇生成标志物下调。然而，在接受内脂素处理的睾丸中，细胞色素P450 17α酶（CYP17）的表达上调。内脂素处理还增加了睾丸不同生殖细胞的凋亡。内脂素处理后，循环促黄体生成素（LH）和促卵泡生成素（FSH）水平也受到抑制。在接受内脂素处理的小鼠垂体中，AR的免疫定位显示丰度降低；因此，可以认为内脂素可能通过直接作用而非通过升高的睾酮来抑制垂体促性腺激素的分泌。总之，我们的结果表明，外源性内脂素以不同方式抑制促性腺激素并刺激睾丸睾酮分泌。内脂素对垂体促性腺激素分泌具有抑制作用，对睾丸睾酮分泌具有刺激作用。因此，类似于高内脂素血症的情况可能会损害垂体和睾丸的激素释放。
