Male obesity is associated with changed spermatozoa Cox4i1 mRNA level and altered seminal vesicle fluid composition in a mouse model

Abstract

The rate of obesity among men of reproductive age has tripled in the last three decades. Previously, we demonstrated that paternal obesity resulted in impaired preimplantation developmental kinetics, compromised post-compaction metabolism and decreased blastocyst cell number when embryos were generated in vivo. Subsequently, using in vitro fertilization we found embryos of obese males to have altered metabolism before compaction, reduced inner cell mass cell number and retarded fetal development-the difference between these two studies being the method of embryo generation and the presence or absence of seminal plasma, respectively. Here, we hypothesize that both sperm and seminal plasma are..