Cited by 43Reproductive Biology and FertilityOvarian function and disordersReproductive Physiology in Livestock

Phycocyanin Improves Reproductive Ability in Obese Female Mice by Restoring Ovary and Oocyte Quality

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Wen, Xin, Han, Zhe, Liu, Shu-Jun, Hao, Xin, Zhang, Xiao-Jie, Wang, Xing-Yue, Zhou, Cheng-Jie, Ma, Yu-Zhen +1 more·2020·Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology

Abstract

Reproductive dysfunction associated with obesity is increasing among women of childbearing age.Emerging evidence indicates that maternal obesity impairs embryo development and offspring health, and these defects are linked to oxidative stress in the ovary and in oocytes.Phycocyanin (PC) is a biliprotein from Spirulina platensis that possesses antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and radical-scavenging properties.Our previous studies have shown that PC can reduce reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation in oocytes in D-gal-induced aging mice.Here, at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD) to model obesity were used to test the effect of PC on reversing the fertility decline caused by obesity.We observed a significant increase in litter size and offspring survival rates after PC administration to obese mice.Further, we found that PC not only ameliorated the level of ovarian antioxidant enzymes, but also reduced the occurrence of follicular atresia in obese female mice.In addition, the abnormal morphology of the spindle-chromosome complex (SCC), and the abnormal mitochondrial distribution pattern in oocytes both recovered.The obesity-related accumulation of ROS, increased number of early apoptotic cells, and the abnormal expression of H3K9me3 in oocytes were all partially reversed after PC administration.In summary, this is the first demonstration that PC can improve fertility by partially increasing ovarian and oocyte quality in obese female mice and provides a new strategy for clinically treating obesity-related infertility in females.

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  • C-PC acts as an anti-obesity agent and improves reproductive health in mice.

    “and acts as an anti-obesity agent while improving reproductive health in mice [62][63][64].”

    From Valorization of Microalgae as Multifunctional Protein Sources in Plant-Based Systems: Structural, Functional, and Processing Challenges (2026) · cites this paper as [63]

    The Discussion reports improved fertility, litter sizes, and offspring viability in obese female mice. But the Results section on glucose tolerance states that PC did not affect the body weights of high-fat-diet mice, so this study does not establish that it acts as an anti-obesity agent, despite reporting metabolic improvements. (LLM, conf=0.90)

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Authors
Wen, X., Han, Z., Liu, S.-J., Hao, X., Zhang, X.-J., Wang, X.-Y., Zhou, C.-J., Ma, Y.-Z., & Liang, C.-G.
Affiliations
Inner Mongolia University (CN)
Corresponding author
Liang, Cheng-Guang
Venue
Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology
Published
2020-11-13
Volume
8
Pages
595373-595373
ISSN
2296-634X (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3098358993
Cited by
43
References
68
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 3
FWCI
3.94
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology (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 (31871508, 31960158, 31671560, 31900596)
  • Natural Science Foundation of Inner Mongolia (2019ZD09, 30500-5203901/012, 2019GG103)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Reproductive Biology and Fertility
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Reproductive Medicine › Ovarian function and disorders
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Agronomy and Crop Science › Reproductive Physiology in Livestock
Keywords
phycocyanin, obesity, female infertility, oocyte quality, oxidative stress, reactive oxygen species, high-fat diet, follicular atresia, mitochondrial distribution, oocyte apoptosis, H3K9me3, antioxidant enzymes, litter size, offspring survival, Spirulina platensis

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