Research conducted at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences of the University of São Paulo (ICB-USP) revealed that hypertension can cause early and persistent changes in semen quality, including damage to acrosome-crucial structure for sperm penetration in the egg-and compromises testicular microcirculation over a lifetime.
Coordinated by Professor Stephen Rodrigues, from ICB-USP, the work showed that these changes occur in youth and are not completely reversed by antihypertensive drugs, which indicates challenges for the preservation of male reproductive health.
The study was in the magazine Scientific Reports and had as its first author the master’s student Nicolle Machado. The investigation was supported by FAPESP through three projects (, e ).
The work presents the effects of in rats (Spontaneously Hypertensive Ratsstudy model in which animals develop hypertension spontaneously) in different age groups, from young animals (8 to 10 weeks, equivalent to about 18 human years) to older rats (60 to 66 weeks, equivalent to 45 to 50 human years).
The most striking discovery was that changes in the lower concentration and damage to acrosome occur early and persist throughout the reproductive life.
“These results show that hypertension has a reproductive impact that begins very early and persists throughout adulthood. Even relatively short periods of exposure to high blood pressure levels are enough to cause irreversible damage,” Professor Rodrigues told ICB-USP press office.
The researchers tested the effectiveness of different antihypertensive drugs, revealing that not all are equally effective to restore. Losartan, widely used in the clinic, reduced blood pressure levels, but was unable to reverse changes in sperm. On the other hand, Pazosine, an alpha-adrenergic receptor antagonist, not only reduced blood pressure but also corrected part of the semen observed.
“This finding suggests that just reducing blood pressure is not enough to protect reproductive health. The combination of agents that reduce mortality with others that preserve reproductive function can be a promising path,” said Rodrigues.
New horizons
The group plans to investigate the impact of hypertension and antihypertensive agents on the epididymis, a structure responsible for storing sperm before ejaculation. Another focus will be to evaluate the role of physical activity in improving semen quality and testicular microcirculation.
“We want to understand if non -pharmacological interventions, such as exercise, can offer similar benefits to drugs, promoting improvements in reproductive health naturally,” says the ICB professor.
The work reaffirms the importance of investigating the systemic effects of arterial hypertension, a condition that affects millions of people in Brazil and worldwide. “An alarming fact is that, in the last 50 years, a reduction of about 50% of sperm present in semen has been observed in hypertensive individuals or not. It is not yet known the causes of the phenomenon, or if it will start to compromise the reproduction of the species in the future. Therefore, every study is welcome, either to reverse or prevent this reduction from increasing,” he added.
The article Systemic alpha-1 adrenergic receptor inhibition reduces sperm damage in adult and aging spontaneously hypertensive rats can be read in: .
