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Research Progress on the Relationship between Obesity-Inflammation-Aromatase Axis and Male Infertility
Open accessAbstract
Aromatase is a key enzyme in the transformation of androgen into estrogen. Its high expression will destroy the hormonal balance in the male body, and the excessive transformation of androgen into estrogen in the body will further damage the spermatogenic function of the testis, affect the normal development of the sperm, and cause spermatogenic disturbance. Adipose tissue has a high expression of aromatase and shows high enzymatic activity and ability to convert estrogen. Adipose tissue is the most estrogen‐producing nongonadal tissue in the body because of its large size, accounting for about 20% of the body mass in healthy adults. PPAR γ is recognized as the key adipose differentiation in the transcriptional regulation of the transcription factor. In the process of adipocyte differentiation, PPAR γ regulate the expression of aromatase. The increase of aromatase is associated with the inflammatory response in adipose tissue caused by obesity. After obesity, the increase of proinflammatory factors in adipocytes will lead to enhanced transcription of the CYP19 gene encoding aromatase in adipocytes, which in turn will lead to increased expression of aromatase in adipocytes. This article reviews the regulation of male sterility from the angle of the “obesity‐inflammation‐aromatase” axis.
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“Chronic inflammation associated with obesity, and inflammatory factors (e.g., IL-6 and TNF-α) increase the expression of the Cyp19a1 gene encoding the aromatase enzyme in testicular tissues [43,44].”
From Prevention of Diet-Induced Obesity by Phytoecdysteroids 20-Hydroxyecdysone and Calonysterone—Unexpected Modulation of Androgen Balance in Normal and Obese Rats (2026) · cites this paper as [43]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Yuxin, L., Chen, L., Xiaoxia, L., Yue, L., Junjie, L., Youzhu, L., Huiliang, Z., & Qicai, L.
- Affiliations
- Fujian Medical University (CN)
- First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University (CN)
- Venue
- Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2021-01
- Volume
- 2021
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 6612796-6612796
- ISSN
- 1942-0994 (ISSN-L)
- 1942-0900
- PMC
- PMC7884171
- OpenAlex
- W3126472018
- Cited by
- 51
- References
- 41
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 11
- FWCI
- 1.23
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (81871293)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Reproductive Medicine › Sperm and Testicular Function
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Adipokines, Inflammation, and Metabolic Diseases
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Endocrinology › Estrogen and related hormone effects
- Keywords
- obesity, inflammation, aromatase, male infertility, adipose tissue, PPARγ, aromatase gene expression, adipogenesis, androgen to estrogen conversion, spermatogenesis, hormonal imbalance
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Aromatase, Humans, Infertility, Male, Inflammation, Male, Models, Biological, Obesity, Biomedical Research
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