Shabnam Mohammadi, Mehdi Jalali1, Mohammad Reza Nikravesh, Mehran Gholamin, Alireza Fazel, Alireza Ebrahimzadeh and Mojtaba Sankian
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of L-carnitine therapy on CatSper 1 and CatSper 2 proteins expression in the aged male mice. In spite of the important role of CatSper genes in male fertility, little data is available about the factors regulating their expression. CatSper1-4, four unique sperm cation channels, were identified to be exclusively expressed in the sperm and required for sperm motility and male fertility. A total of 48 aged (11-12 months) and young (2-3 months) mice were randomly divided into four groups: (1) aging control; (2) aging treated; (3) Young control; and (4) Young treated. Control groups did not receive any injection. The treated groups were received intra-peritoneally 50 mg/kg L-carnitine daily for 35 days. Immunohistochemistry staining was performed on days 21, 28 and 35 after carnitine treatment. Sperms were analyzed based on the WHO guidelines given for human sperm examination. Data analysis was carried out using the SPSS software version 21. Carnitine treatment caused a remarkable increase in CatSper1 and CatSper2 proteins expression. Besides, immunohistochemistry staining detected CatSper proteins in the head and the sperm flagellum. Carnitine therapy increased CatSper proteins expression in the old and young mice.
