Phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase is involved in the maintenance of male fertility under cryptorchidism in mice

Severe oxidative stress by cryptorchidism leads to infertility. To assess the functional significance of phospholipid hydroperoxidase glutathione peroxidase (PHGPx) under cryptorchidism, PHGPx expression was spatiotemporally analyzed in testes and epididymis excised at 1, 4, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days after experimental bilateral cryptorchidism in adult mice. In testes, while apoptosis-related caspase 3 and Bcl-xL mRNAs were significantly changed after 14 days, 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase mRNA was greatly reduced immediately after cryptorchidism. Under cryptorchidism, PHGPx was significantly decreased in both organs after 21 days, while its mRNA was greatly reduced in testes after 14 days and in epididymis after 4 days. However, PHGPx was upregulated in degenerative spermatids, multinucleated giant cells, and Leydig cells in testes and desquamous spermatids in epididymis until 21 days, but was weakly detected in the spermatids at 28 days. These findings suggest that PHGPx is necessary for maintenance of male fertility under cryptorchidism in testes.