Decreased sperm quality causing poor pregnancy outcomes in aging males is a common problem. The aim of this study was to investigate the ameliorative effect of methionine restriction on sperm quality in aging mice, using methionine or 2-hydroxy-4-(methylthio)butanoate (HMTBA) as the methionine source, with a view to providing nutritional strategies to mitigate the decline in sperm quality in aging livestock. Fifty-one 6-week-old male mice were randomly divided into four groups: the non-aging group (NA, 0.86% methionine), the control diet group (CD, 0.86% methionine), the methionine-restricted group (MR, 0.17% methionine) and the HMTBA-restricted group (HR, 0.17% methionine). The mice in the CD, MR and HR groups were injected with a daily dose of 0.25 mL/20 g body weight of 10% D-galactose to establish an aging model. The test period was 42 days. The results showed that aging mice in the CD group had impaired testicular morphology and significantly decreased sperm quality compared to those in the NA group. Aging mice in the MR and HR groups showed attenuated impaired testicular morphology and improved sperm quality, especially sperm acrosomal integrity and membrane integrity, compared to mice in the CD group. In addition, mice in the MR and HR groups had reduced testicular inflammation and oxidative stress, increased spermidine levels, and reduced sperm RNA N6-methyladenosine (m6A) and DNA 5-methylcytosine (5mC) levels. Spermidine levels were positively correlated, whereas sperm RNA m6A and DNA 5mC levels were negatively correlated with sperm quality parameters. Our study suggests that methionine restriction alleviates the decline in sperm quality in aging mice, which may be related to changes in methionine metabolism and inhibition of sperm DNA and RNA methylation.
Keywords: aging mice; methionine hydroxy analog; methionine restriction; methylation; sperm quality; spermidine.