Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Affects Sperm Quality and Epididymis Function in Sedentary and Exercised Wistar Rats

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a disease that affects millions of people worldwide. Besides the effects on the lungs and heart, PAH can affect other organs, including the liver, kidneys, brain, glands, and testis. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of PAH and physical resistance training (RT), a complementary treatment for hypertension, on epididymis morphology and function and sperm parameters. Wistar rats were divided into four experimental groups (n = 8/ group): sedentary control, sedentary PAH, RT control, and RT + PAH. PAH was induced using monocrotaline injections on Day 1 and 7 of the experiment. Sixteen rats from RT groups underwent RT training for 30 days, while rats from sedentary groups did not exercise. The epididymis was processed and analyzed using microscopic, biochemical, and functional approaches. Sperm were harvested from the cauda epididymis and evaluated for morphology and motility. Our results showed that PAH compromised the epididymis antioxidant defense system and reduced NO levels, leading to an imbalance in the organ's mineral content. These alterations affected the epididymis morphology and reduced the sperm transit time in the proximal epididymis, resulting in an increase in abnormal sperm morphology in the cauda region. Unfortunately, RT was not a good therapy against the PAH effect on the epididymis. PAH negatively affected epididymis functions with consequences to male gametes. Dysfunctions in the post-testicular environment may lead to male infertility due to the disturbance of spermatozoa fecundity.