Background: The pituitary-gonadal axis plays an important role in steroidogenesis and spermatogenesis and by extension, fertility. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the protective role of bee bread, which is a natural bee product, against obesity-induced decreases in steroidogenesis and spermatogenesis. Methods: Thirty-two adult male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing between 200-300 g were divided into four groups (n=8/group), namely: normal control (NC), high-fat diet (HFD), HFD plus bee bread administered concurrently for 12 weeks (HFD+B), HFD plus orlistat administered concurrently for 12 weeks (HFD+O) groups. Bee bread (0.5 g/kg) or Orlistat (10 mg/kg/day) was suspended in distilled water and given by oral gavage daily for 12 weeks. Results: Levels of follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone testosterone, and adiponectin, as well as sperm count, motility, viability, normal morphology and epididymal antioxidants decreased whereas levels of leptin and malondialdehyde, and sperm nDNA fragmentation increased significantly in HFD group relative to NC group. There were significant decreases in the testicular mRNA transcript and protein levels of androgen receptor, luteinizing hormone receptor, steroidogenic acute regulatory protein, cytochrome P450 enzyme, 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (HSD) and 17β-HSD in the testes of the HFD group. Further, mount latency, mount frequency, intromission, ejaculation, penile iNOS and cGMP levels deceased significantly in the HFD group. Supplementation with bee bread significantly reduced leptin level and increased adiponectin level, enhanced sperm parameters and reduced sperm nDNA fragmentation, upregulated the levels of steroidogenic genes and proteins in HFD-induced obese male rats. Discussion and Conclusion: Bee bread improved spermatogenesis and steroidogenesis by upregulating steroidogenic genes. Therefore, bee bread may be considered as a potential supplementation to protect against infertility in overweight or obese men.

中文翻译：

---

蜜蜂面包减轻了高脂肪饮食雄性大鼠类固醇生成基因的下调、精子发生减少和附睾氧化应激

背景：垂体 - 性腺轴在类固醇生成和精子生成以及生育能力中起着重要作用。目的：本研究的目的是研究蜂面包（一种天然蜂产品）对肥胖引起的类固醇生成和精子生成减少的保护作用。方法：32只成年雄性Sprague-Dawley大鼠，体重在200-300 g之间，分为四组（n=8/组），即：正常对照组（NC）、高脂饮食（HFD）、HFD加蜂面包同时给药12周（HFD+B），HFD加奥利司他同时给药12周（HFD+O）组。蜂面包（0.5 克/公斤）或奥利司他（10 毫克/公斤/天）悬浮在蒸馏水中，每天通过口服管饲给药，持续 12 周。结果：促卵泡激素、促黄体激素睾酮和脂联素的水平，与 NC 组相比，HFD 组的精子数量、活力、活力、正常形态和附睾抗氧化剂降低，而瘦素和丙二醛的水平以及精子 nDNA 断裂显着增加。HFD 组睾丸中雄激素受体、促黄体激素受体、类固醇生成急性调节蛋白、细胞色素 P450 酶、3β-羟基类固醇脱氢酶 (HSD) 和 17β-HSD 的睾丸 mRNA 转录和蛋白质水平显着降低。此外，HFD 组的安装延迟、安装频率、插入、射精、阴茎 iNOS 和 cGMP 水平显着降低。补充蜂面包显着降低瘦素水平和增加脂联素水平，增强精子参数并减少精子 nDNA 碎片，上调 HFD 诱导的肥胖雄性大鼠中类固醇生成基因和蛋白质的水平。讨论和结论：蜂面包通过上调类固醇生成基因来改善精子发生和类固醇生成。因此，蜜蜂面包可能被认为是一种潜在的补充剂，可防止超重或肥胖男性不育。