EVOO RESTORES THE STEROL REGULATORY ELEMENT-BINDING PROTEIN 2 CHOLESTEROL PATHWAY OVER-STIMULATED BY A HFD IN RABBIT TESTIS.

FUNES, ABI K.; AVENA VIRGINIA; COLOMBO REGINA; MONCLUS M A.; CONTE MI; BOARELLI P V; LANCELLOTTI, TANIA E. SAEZ; FORNES MW.

Congreso; REUNION CONJUNTA SAIC - SAI - AAFE - NANOMED.AR 2021. SOCIEDAD ARGENTINA DE INVESTIGACION CLINICA.; 2021

SAIC y otras

EVOO RESTORES THE STEROL REGULATORY ELEMENT-BINDING PROTEIN 2 CHOLESTEROL PATHWAY OVER-STIMULATED BY A HFD IN RABBIT TESTIS.Abi Karenina Funes 1, Virginia Avena 1, Regina Colombo R 1, María Monclus1,2, Inés Conte1, Paola Boarelli 3, Estefanía Saez Lancellotti 1,2, Miguel Fornés 1,2. 1 Laboratorio de Investigaciones Andrológicas de Mendoza (LIAM), IHEM, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, CONICET. 2 Centro de Investigaciones de la Universidad del Aconcagua (CIUDA), Universidad del Aconcagua. 3 Laboratorio de Enfermedades Metabólicas (LEM), Universidad Maza.Male fertility depends on cholesterol (chol) homeostasis. Chol is essential for testosterone synthesis and spermatogenesis, and must be maintained in an optimal range for proper functioning of the testes. Rabbits on a high-fat diet (HFD) exhibit hypercholesterolemia associated with poor seminal quality, related to cholesterol overload in seminiferous tubule cells. Sterol regulatory element-binding protein (SREBP)-2 governs the cholesterol pathway in testis and it is sensitive to dietary lipids. We have previously seen that Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) supplementation improved semen parameters affected by high fat diet. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of EVOO supplementation to HFD on rabbit testes at the molecular level, analyzing the SREBP-2 pathway. Male New Zealand White rabbits were fed commercial rabbit pellet (normocholesterolemic rabbits: NCR), a high-fat diet (plus 14% bovine grease, hypercholesterolemic rabbits, HCR), or 7% bovine grease plus 7% EVOO (HCR + EVOO). Serum lipid levels, body weight and seminal parameters were measured, and mRNA and protein levels of the SREBP-2 pathway were assessed by PCR, Western blotting and immunofluorescence. At 12 months of diet, HCR rabbits show an increase in the expression of SREBP 2 and downstream molecules of the pathway: HMGCR (3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A reductase) and LDLR (low-density lipoprotein receptor). Interestingly, the addition of EVOO showed a recovery in the expression of the mentioned proteins. In addition, preliminary studies of SREBP-2 regulatory molecule, INSIG1 (Insulin induced gene 1), and the molecule responsible for the esterification of cholesterol, SOAT2 (Sterol O-Acyltransferase 2), showed no significant changes between diets so far. The data showed that dietary supplementation with EVOO promoted testicular improvements by modifying the expression of cholesterol pathway regulated by SREBP2.