Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Reproduction, Fertility and Development, cilt.37, sa.10, 2025 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
Context: Obesity, a metabolic syndrome that results in excess fat accumulation in the body, is one of the most common diseases today, and its molecular background remains unclear. Studies have shown that a high-fat diet-induced obesity can cause changes in gene expression by affecting epigenetics in germ cells. Aims: Our study aims to show the changes in DNA methyltransferase 3b (Dnmt3b) and DNA methyltransferase 3l (Dnmt3l) in the testes of obese C57BL/6 mice fed with a high-fat diet. Methods: The presence and quantitative differences of Dnmt3b and Dnmt3l enzymes in the testes of C57BL/6 mice fed with a high-fat diet were demonstrated using the immunohistochemistry and Western blotting method. Key results: Our findings showed that high-fat diet-induced obesity led to a significant upregulation of Dnmt3b expression levels in the mice testes. In contrast, Dnmt3l expression was dramatically downregulated in the testes of high-fat diet-induced obese mice. Specifically, a significant increase in the expression level of Dnmt3b was observed in the all testicular cells of high-fat diet group compared with the control group, whereas on the contrary, a decrease in the expression level of Dnmt3l was observed only in spermatogonium and spermatocytes. Conclusions: High-fat diets altered the expression levels of Dnmt3b and Dnmt3l proteins in the testes of mice. Implications: We think that our results have important value in showing the effects of obesity on spermatogenesis and may bring a new perspective to obesity-related male infertility treatments.