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Epigenetics

Weight change alters the spermatozoal epigenome

Nature Reviews Endocrinology volume 12, page 62 (2016)Cite this article

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The spermatozoa of men with obesity and men who are lean have different epigenomes, according to new findings. Importantly, weight loss after bariatric surgery resulted in dramatically remodelled DNA methylation.

Several of the genes that were found to be differentially methylated, such as NPY and MC4R, are known to be involved in the central control of appetite. “Most interestingly, mutations in MC4R are associated with severe obesity,” notes Barrès.

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References

  1. Donkin, I. et al. Obesity and bariatric surgery drive epigenetic variation of spermatozoa in humans. Cell Metab. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2015.11.004

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  1. Claire Greenhill
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Greenhill, C. Weight change alters the spermatozoal epigenome. Nat Rev Endocrinol 12, 62 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2015.223

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