Maternal preconceptional inflammation transgenerationally alters metabolic and behavioral phenotypes in offspring.

Aims: Evidence is accumulating that maternal inflammation induces phenotypic changes in the next generation. However, whether maternal preconceptional inflammation alters metabolic and behavioral phenotypes in offspring remains poorly understood.

Main Methods: Female mice were injected with either lipopolysaccharide or saline to establish the inflammatory model and then allowed to mate with normal males.

Small Noncoding RNAs Contribute to Sperm Oxidative Stress-Induced Programming of Behavioral and Metabolic Phenotypes in Offspring.

There is growing evidence that paternal environmental information alters small noncoding RNAs (sncRNAs) in sperm and in turn can induce alterations of metabolic and behavioral phenotypes of the next generation. However, the potential mediators of the effects remain to be elucidated. A great diversity of environmental insults and stresses can convergently induce the elevation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in sperm; nonetheless, it remains unclear whether ROS mediates the biogenesis of sncRNAs in sperm and participates in the reprogramming of offspring phenotypes.

Angiogenin mediates paternal inflammation-induced metabolic disorders in offspring through sperm tsRNAs.

Paternal environmental inputs can influence various phenotypes in offspring, presenting tremendous implications for basic biology and public health and policy. However, which signals function as a nexus to transmit paternal environmental inputs to offspring remains unclear. Here we show that offspring of fathers with inflammation exhibit metabolic disorders including glucose intolerance and obesity.

Dysfunction in Sertoli cells participates in glucocorticoid-induced impairment of spermatogenesis.

The effect of stress on male fertility is a widespread public health issue, but less is known about the related signaling pathway. To investigate this, we established a hypercortisolism mouse model by supplementing the drinking water with corticosterone for four weeks. In the hypercortisolism mice, the serum corticosterone was much higher than in the control, and serum testosterone was significantly decreased.