OLIVE OIL IMPROVES THE ALTERATIONS OF THE TESTICULAR CHOLESTEROL METABOLISM REGULATED BY SREBP-2 IN HYPERCHOLESTEROLEMIC RABBITS

FUNES ABI; MONCLUS MARÍA ANGELES; CONTE, MARIA INES; BOARELLI PAOLA VANINA; CORTESE, LEANDRO; FORNES MIGUEL; COLOMBO REGINA; CRESCITELI JULIETA; SAEZ LANCELLOTI TANIA

Mar del Plata

Congreso; LXIII Reunión Annual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación Clínica SAIC ? SAI ? SAFIS.; 2018

The relationship between hypercholesterolemia and reduced male fertility has been reported previously. Hypercholesterolemic rabbits (HCR) were associated with deleterious changes in semen and sperm cells: semen volume decreased and the sperm membrane became overloaded with cholesterol. Olive Oil (OO) supplementation (7% v/p) improved semen parameters affected by high fat diet. The increase in membrane cholesterol may be due to changes in the intracellular metabolism of this lipid. New Zealand White rabbits, 4 rabbits from each group, were fed commercial rabbit pellet (normocholesterolemic rabbits: NCR), plus 14% bovine grease (HCR) or 7% bovine grease plus OO (7%) (½HCR + ½OO). Within molecular regulation, SREBP (Sterol- Regulatory-Binding-Protein) is an essential protein for cholesterol homeostasis and membrane biogenesis. At 3 months of diet, SREBP-2 mRNA expression showed no significant changes between NCR and HCR assessed by RT-PCR. In contrast, protein expression, detected by western blot showed a significant increase in HCR testis. The target molecules of SREBP2: HMGCoAR (3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A reductase) R-LDL (low-density lipoprotein receptor) and ABCA-1 (ATP-binding cassette, sub-family A member 1) followed the same pattern. Interestingly, ½HCR + ½OO showed a recovery in the expression of the mentioned proteins. In addition, the SREBP2 protein was sub-cellularly detected in the testis by indirect immunofluorescence. Taken together, the changes in expression and location of the SREBP protein in testicles of HCR animals could be related to the seminal alterations already described. OO was able to improve the altered parameters in dietary acquired hypercholesterolemic rabbits.