Dietary calcium improves the reproductive functions against high-fat diet (HFD)–induced testicular toxicity in male obese rats

Introduction Obesity-associated metabolic disorders are often associated with reproductive disorders affecting the spermatogenesis program and infertility. Recently, dietary calcium has shown a protective effect against obesity and its associated metabolic disorders. Calcium is a common nutrient in our daily diet with a diverse physiological role, but its role against reproductive function during obesity remains unknown. Purpose The present study aimed to investigate the dietary effect of calcium against male reproductive function in high-fat diet (HFD) rats. Methods Male rats were randomly divided into four groups: the control group, the HFD obese group, the low calcium (0.25% Ca) HFD group, and the high calcium (1.0%Ca) HFD group. The rats were fed with the low or high-calcium diet for 12 weeks after inducing obesity. At the end of the study, several reproductive markers including sperm count, testicular steroidogenic enzymatic activity, testosterone, antioxidant, inflammatory and apoptotic markers were studied. Results High calcium (1.0% Ca) group was found to improve the reproductive parameters like sperm count, sperm motility, testosterone level, and steroidogenic enzymes indicating improvement in spermatogenesis which is affected by diet-induced obesity. These improvements in reproductive parameters are improved by restoring the physiological balance between antioxidant and oxidative stress levels and reducing the inflammatory and apoptosis markers in the high calcium group. Conclusion High calcium diet during obese conditions seemed to improve the male reproductive parameters and spermatogenesis program thereby preventing the risk of obesity-associated male infertility.