Oxidative Stress in Reproduction of Mammals

A special issue of Antioxidants (ISSN 2076-3921). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Outcomes of Antioxidants and Oxidative Stress".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2024 | Viewed by 820

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Interests: reproduction; reproductive supression; mole-rat; ecophysiology; eusociality

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Guest Editor
Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Interests: oxidative stress; ecophysiology; climate change; hyperthermia; reproduction

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Reproduction is a crucial component of life history theory, which in turn examines how organisms allocate resources into the growth, reproduction, and survival of a species. Life history theory posits that organisms face trade-offs in allocating limited resources to various biological functions. Reproduction is one of the most resource-intensive processes, which significantly influences an organism's life history strategy, but despite this, there remains a large controversy over the potential oxidative costs associated with reproduction.

This Special Issue in Antioxidants journal will explore the multifaceted relationship between oxidative stress and mammalian reproduction cost and/or effort through direct or indirect means. Relationships mediating reproduction and oxidative stress of interest include ecological, environmental, and physiological factors, as well as mitigation (e.g., through antioxidant supplementation) and induction (e.g., indirectly as a consequence of lipopolysaccharide inflammation) strategies.

Prof. Dr. Nigel Bennett
Dr. Paul Juan Jacobs
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • infertility
  • antioxidants
  • supplementation
  • diet
  • reproductive function
  • oxidative balance
  • hormonal
  • inflammation
  • pollution
  • temperature

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 727 KiB  
Article
Variation in Lipid Peroxidation in the Ejaculates of Wild Banded Mongooses (Mungos mungo): A Test of the Oxidative Shielding Hypothesis
by Graham Birch, Magali Meniri, Chris Mitchell, Francis Mwanguhya, Robert Businge, Solomon Ahabyona, Hazel J. Nichols, Michael A. Cant and Jonathan D. Blount
Antioxidants 2024, 13(9), 1124; https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox13091124 (registering DOI) - 18 Sep 2024
Abstract
Reproductive activity is costly in terms of future reproduction and survival. Oxidative stress has been identified as a likely mechanism underlying this cost of reproduction. However, empirical studies have yielded the paradoxical observation that breeders often sustain lower levels of oxidative damage than [...] Read more.
Reproductive activity is costly in terms of future reproduction and survival. Oxidative stress has been identified as a likely mechanism underlying this cost of reproduction. However, empirical studies have yielded the paradoxical observation that breeders often sustain lower levels of oxidative damage than non-breeders. The oxidative shielding hypothesis attempts to explain such data, and posits that breeders pre-emptively reduce levels of oxidative damage in order to protect their germ cells, and any resultant offspring, from harm caused by exposure to oxidative damage. While there is some empirical evidence of oxidative shielding in females, there have been no explicit tests of this hypothesis in males, despite evidence of the oxidative costs to the male reproductive effort and the vulnerability of sperm cells to oxidative damage. In this study, we assess lipid oxidative damage (malondialdehyde, MDA) in the ejaculates of reproducing and non-reproducing wild banded mongooses. We found that, among breeding males, ejaculate MDA levels were lower during mate competition compared to 2 months later, when individuals were not mating, which is consistent with the oxidative shielding hypothesis, and similar to findings in females. However, ejaculate MDA levels did not differ significantly between breeding and non-breeding individuals at the time of mating, contrary to expectation. The finding that ejaculate MDA was not higher in non-breeders may reflect individual differences in quality and hence oxidative stress. In particular, breeders were significantly older than non-breeders, which may obscure differences in oxidative damage due to reproductive investment. Further research is needed to establish the causal relationship between reproductive investment and oxidative damage in ejaculates, and the consequences for offspring development in banded mongooses and other species. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Oxidative Stress in Reproduction of Mammals)
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11 pages, 584 KiB  
Article
Dietary Supplementation with 25-Hydroxyvitamin D3 on Reproductive Performance and Placental Oxidative Stress in Primiparous Sows during Mid-to-Late Gestation
by Jing Li, Qingyue Bi, Yu Pi, Xianren Jiang, Yanpin Li and Xilong Li
Antioxidants 2024, 13(9), 1090; https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox13091090 - 6 Sep 2024
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Abstract
The placenta plays a crucial role in nutrient transport and waste exchange between the dam and fetus, sustaining fetal growth. While the positive effects of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25-OH-D3) on animal performance have been reported, its impact on placental function remains [...] Read more.
The placenta plays a crucial role in nutrient transport and waste exchange between the dam and fetus, sustaining fetal growth. While the positive effects of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25-OH-D3) on animal performance have been reported, its impact on placental function remains largely unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effects of supplementing 25-OH-D3 in the diet of primiparous sows on reproductive performance, antioxidant capacity, placental oxidative stress, nutrient transport, and inflammatory response during mid-to-late gestation. A total of 45 healthy Landrace × Yorkshire primiparous sows on day 60 of gestation were selected and randomly allocated to three treatment groups based on body weight and backfat thickness: the control group (corn-soybean meal basal diet), the VD3 group (basal diet + 2000 IU VD3), and the 25-OH-D3 group (basal diet + 50 μg/kg 25-OH-D3). The results demonstrated that supplementation with 25-OH-D3 in the diet enhanced sows’ average litter weight and birth weight during mid-to-late gestation. Additionally, plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations in sows significantly decreased in the VD3 and 25-OH-D3 groups (p < 0.05). Furthermore, lower gene expressions of placental HO-1, GPX2, IL-8, and IL-6 were found in the VD3 or 25-OH-D3 groups (p < 0.05 or p < 0.10), while higher gene expressions of GLUT1 and SNAT2 in the placenta of sows were observed in the VD3 and 25-OH-D3 groups, respectively (p < 0.05). These findings indicate that the supplementation of VD3 and 25-OH-D3 in the diet of sows can improve their plasma oxidative stress status, enhance placental antioxidant capacity and nutrient transport, and reduce placental inflammatory responses, with more pronounced improvements in sow performance observed in sows fed diets supplemented with 25-OH-D3. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Oxidative Stress in Reproduction of Mammals)
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