Chronic sleep loss disrupts blood-testis and blood-epididymis barriers, and reduces male fertility
Chronic sleep loss disrupts blood-testis and blood-epididymis barriers, and reduces male fertility
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DOI：
10.1111/jsr.12907
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发表时间：
2019-10-02
影响因子：
4.4
通讯作者：
Gomez-Gonzalez, Beatriz
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Dominguez-Salazar, Emilio;Hurtado-Alvarado, Gabriela;Gomez-Gonzalez, Beatriz
睡眠不足会增加血脑屏障的通透性。由于血脑屏障和生殖道中的血液组织屏障（血睾丸和血附睾屏障）具有共同的特征，我们假设睡眠限制也可能改变它们的屏障功能。之前的报告表明，睡眠不足会降低精子活力和逐渐快速移动，这可能是血睾和血附睾屏障改变的结果。因此，我们量化了睡眠不足后血睾和血附睾屏障的变化，并将其与男性生育能力联系起来。使用多平台技术对成年雄性 Wistar 大鼠进行睡眠限制，方案为每天 20 小时睡眠剥夺加上 4 小时在家笼中恢复睡眠。第10天，用荧光素钠、10 kDa级联蓝-葡聚糖和伊文思蓝进行屏障通透性测定，并对紧密连接蛋白、肌动蛋白和雄激素受体的表达进行定量。在睡眠限制的第10天和睡眠恢复后的第1-7天，将雄性与具有性接受能力的雌性放置在一起，测试性行为，并计算怀孕百分比。睡眠限制增加了屏障对低分子量和高分子量示踪剂的通透性，并降低了紧密连接蛋白、肌动蛋白和雄激素受体的表达。与此同时，睡眠限制降低了男性射精的百分比和怀孕的数量。 2-3 天的睡眠恢复会逐渐恢复生育能力，射精的雄性和受孕雌性的比例更高。总之，慢性睡眠不足会改变生育能力，同时破坏生殖道的血液组织屏障，其机制涉及雄激素信号传导。
Sleep loss increases blood-brain barrier permeability. As the blood-brain barrier and the blood-tissue barriers in the reproductive tract (blood-testis and blood-epididymis barriers) share common characteristics, we hypothesized that sleep restriction may also modify their barrier function. Previous reports showed that sleep loss decreased sperm viability and progressive fast mobility, which may be a consequence of altered blood-testis and blood-epididymis barrier. Therefore, we quantified changes in blood-testis and blood-epididymis barrier after sleep loss and related them to male fertility. Adult male Wistar rats were sleep restricted using the multiple-platform technique in a protocol of 20 hr daily sleep deprivation plus 4 hr of sleep recovery in the home-cage. At the 10th day, barrier permeability assays were performed with Na-fluorescein, 10 kDa Cascade blue-dextrans and Evans blue, and the expression of tight junction proteins, actin and androgen receptor was quantified. At the 10th day of sleep restriction and after sleep recovery days 1-7, males were placed with sexually receptive females, sexual behaviour was tested, and the percentage of pregnancies was calculated. Sleep restriction increased the barrier permeability to low- and high-molecular-weight tracers, and decreased the expression of tight junction proteins, actin and androgen receptor. Concomitantly, sleep restriction reduced the percentage of ejaculating males and the number of pregnancies. Sleep recovery for 2-3 days progressively re-established fertility, as indicated by a higher percentage of ejaculating males and impregnated females. In conclusion, chronic sleep loss alters fertility concomitantly with the disruption of the blood-tissue barriers at the reproductive tract, the mechanism involves androgen signalling.