Affiliation:
1. Department of Surgery, Division of Urology, Human Reproduction Section São Paulo Federal University São Paulo Brazil
2. Laboratory of Ontogeny of Lymphocytes, Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista de Medicina São Paulo Brazil
Abstract
AbstractDuring the last decades, a wide range of factors involved in the physiopathology of male infertility disease have been discussed. The inflammation role in some of the main infertility‐related diseases has been studied, such as varicocele, spinal cord injury and obesity. Inflammation is the main response of the immune system to infection or cell damage, leading to intense inflammatory cytokine release during the loss of homeostasis. One of the first steps toward pro‐inflammatory cytokines release is the recognition of dangerous signals by the immune cells, including pathogen‐associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and damage‐associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). These molecules can activate an important multiprotein complex, called inflammasome. Although these complexes have been studied during the last decades, their participation in male infertility has gained attention recently. Considering the inflammasome complex's high potential to be targeted for drug therapy, this review tries to shed light on current literature. Therefore, in the current review paper, we aimed to discuss the inflammasome complex activation, involvement in different male infertility conditions, and localization in the male reproductive tract.
Subject
Obstetrics and Gynecology,Reproductive Medicine,Immunology,Immunology and Allergy,Obstetrics and Gynecology,Immunology