<em>Morchella esculenta</em> Intensifies Testosterone Production and Spermatogenesis in Male Mice with High-Fat Diet-Induced Obesity by Enhancing Antioxidant Capacity

Obesity has become a major health concern worldwide and is strongly correlated with various comorbidities including reproductive dysfunction. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the ef-fects of Morchella esculenta (ME) in improving reproductive dysfunction caused by high-fat di-et-induced obesity. Male C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into control, obese, and ME-treated obese groups. The total duration of high-fat diet feeding was 24 weeks, and over the last 8 weeks, the ME-treated groups received low-dose (100 mg/kg) and high-dose (500 mg/kg) ME extract for 5 days of each week. Biochemical markers, hormones, liver, testicular histology, and semen quality were analyzed. The activities of the testicular antioxidants and the products of lipid peroxidation were measured. The protein expression levels of apoptosis-, autophagy-, and inflammation-related markers were also surveyed. The HFD-fed mice had abnormal sex hormone levels, poor sperm quality, and destroyed testicular structure, which were significantly restored following ME treatment. Despite having no effect on apoptosis-related markers, decreased activi-ties of antioxidants in obese mice were notably ameliorated. Furthermore, the levels of the in-flammation-related markers NF-кB and IL-6 were altered by ME treatment. In conclusion, ME has therapeutic effects on reproductive dysfunction caused by diet-induced obesity, which may be partially due to improving antioxidant capacity and inhibiting inflammation. ME might be useful as a complementary treatment for male infertility.