title: Sperm glucose transport and metabolism in diabetic individuals.
abstract: Individuals with diabetes mellitus (DM) present marked reduction in sperm quality and higher DNA damage in spermatozoa, evidencing that this metabolic disorder impairs male fertility. These effects are related to defective testicular metabolic pathways and signaling, resulting in altered sperm metabolism. Spermatozoa metabolize several substrates to ensure energy supplies and any alteration in this feature compromise sperm quality. For ATP production, spermatozoa require substrate availability and the involvement of specific hexose membrane carriers. DM is known to modulate the spermatozoa substrate consumption and/or production due to altered glycolytic behavior. In fact, glucose uptake and metabolism is highly deregulated in diabetic individuals. Herein, we present an overview of the implications of DM in sperm glucose uptake and metabolism. The understanding of these processes is essential to identify key mechanisms associated with DM-related male (in)fertility. Moreover, it may contribute to the development of therapeutics to counteract the dysfunction induced by DM in sperm metabolism.
authors.affiliation: CICS - UBI - Health Sciences Research Centre, University of Beira Interior, 6201-506 Covilhã, Portugal.
authors.forename: Tânia R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Dias
authors.affiliation: CICS - UBI - Health Sciences Research Centre, University of Beira Interior, 6201-506 Covilhã, Portugal.
authors.forename: Marco G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Alves
authors.affiliation: CICS - UBI - Health Sciences Research Centre, University of Beira Interior, 6201-506 Covilhã, Portugal.
authors.forename: Branca M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: CICS - UBI - Health Sciences Research Centre, University of Beira Interior, 6201-506 Covilhã, Portugal; Department of Microscopy, Laboratory of Cell Biology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar (ICBAS) and Unit for Multidisciplinary Research in Biomedicine (UMIB), University of Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: pfobox@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Pedro F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Oliveira
mesh_terms: D001692:Biological Transport; D002952:Citric Acid Cycle / Q000235:genetics; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005298:Fertility / Q000235:genetics*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D051246:Glucose Transport Proteins, Facilitative / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006019:Glycolysis / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D027501:Monocarboxylic Acid Transporters / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013081:Sperm Motility / Q000235:genetics; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D051246:Glucose Transport Proteins, Facilitative; D007527:Isoenzymes; D027501:Monocarboxylic Acid Transporters; D019344:Lactic Acid; D005947:Glucose
keywords: Diabetes; Glucose metabolism; Glucose transporters; Male fertility; Sperm; Spermatogenesis