Role of Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress in The Male Reproductive System

Abstract

Testicular dysfunction, whether linked to varicocele, obesity, diabetes, aging, inflammation, or lifestyle or environmentalissues, is frequently accompanied by an accumulation of unfolded or misfolded proteins, indicating impaired endoplasmicreticulum (ER) function. In this review, we examined the Google Scholar, Scopus and PubMed databases (from 2011to 2022) to support the association of ER stress with defective spermatogenesis in animal models and humans. ERstress, whether in its pro-survival or pro-apoptotic aspect, appears to be closely linked to each studied situation.Several studies have demonstrated a significant increase in oxidative stress (OS) levels in infertile men compared tofertile individuals, which is associated with poor spermatogenesis quality. OS is likely the result of the interplay betweenER stress and spermatogenesis defects. These findings suggest that therapeutic strategies aimed at mitigating bothER stress and OS could be of interest in restoring male reproductive function.

Keywords

• apoptosis
• endoplasmic reticulum stress
• spermatogenesis
• varicocele