Figure 2.

Effects of dietary fat on sperm quality. Dietary fatty acids exert a parallel modulation of lipid metabolism and sperm mitochondrial function. On the one hand, they may promote loss or increase of body fat, hence modulating molecular aspects related to obesity; on the other hand, they modulate oxidative stress and energetic metabolism. A dietary cholesterol excess could induce cholesterol accumulation in testicular Leydig cells, causing a decrease in testosterone production, which is related to oxidative stress mitochondrial dysfunction.