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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Genet.
Sec. Human and Medical Genomics
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fgene.2025.1570053
This article is part of the Research Topic Genetic Regulatory Mechanisms of Adaptive Changes and Pathological Damage in Extreme Environments View all articles
Effects of Cold Environment Exposure on Female Reproductive Health and Its Regulatory Mechanisms
Provisionally accepted- Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China
Objective: To investigate the effects of cold environment exposure on female reproductive capacity and explore its potential regulatory mechanisms.Methods: Female mice were subjected to cold water immersion to simulate cold environment exposure. Weight changes during cold exposure were recorded. Serum levels of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), estradiol (E2), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and luteinizing hormone (LH) were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Ovarian and uterine tissues were collected via surgical procedures, and transcriptomic sequencing was performed to explore potential regulatory mechanisms. ELISA was used to assess the levels of inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-18 (IL-18), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) in peritoneal fluid. Furthermore, immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression levels of IL-1, IL-6, and IL-18 in ovarian tissues, as well as IL-6 and IL-18 in uterine tissues.Results: Compared with the control group, female mice exposed to cold environments exhibited a significant increase in body weight and elevated serum levels of AMH, E2, FSH, and LH. Transcriptomic sequencing of ovarian and uterine tissues indicated that differentially expressed genes were primarily enriched in inflammation-related pathways, including the cAMP signaling pathway, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, and PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. Additionally, levels of inflammatory cytokines in the peritoneal fluid, including IL-1β, IL-6, IL-18, and TNF-α, were significantly elevated.Immunohistochemical analysis showed that the expression levels of IL-1, IL-6, and IL-18 were markedly increased in ovarian tissue, while IL-6 and IL-18 expression levels were significantly elevated in uterine tissue. These differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05).Cold environment exposure may induce inflammatory responses in the uterus and ovaries, contributing to the formation of an inflammatory microenvironment in the reproductive system. This process may lead to disruptions in sex hormone levels and ultimately impair female reproductive capacity.
Keywords: cold, female, Reproduction, sex hormones, Inflammation
Received: 02 Feb 2025; Accepted: 31 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sun, Zhao, Liang, He, Li, Yu, Jie and Yu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Jin Yu, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China
Ding Jie, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China
Chaoqin Yu, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China
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