Analyzing Male Reproductive Risk, Understanding Molecular Targets, and Developing Treatments

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Background

Male fertility, both resilient and fragile, is heavily affected by external factors such as the environment, drug use, and eating habits, in a similar way to a wall of stone that is constantly attacked and weathered to varying degrees. The use of cancer drugs, for instance, may increase life expectancy and cure diseases, but may also negatively affect male fertility.

A variety of factors complicate male infertility, such as the intricate spermatogenesis process. The available methods for diagnosis are limited, not to mention treatment. However, some evidence showed that different reproductive physiologies may share some biological basis and thus molecular pathways, such as mTOR, which plays a role in testis physiology, Sertoli cell function, transcriptional and translational control of spermatogenesis, as well as drug and environmental exposure. Moreover, male fertility can also reflect men's overall health and the likelihood of suffering from certain diseases, suggesting that these events have common regulatory mechanisms.

This Research Topic aims to identify these potential shared mechanisms, analyze and explore how environment, disease, drug use, and nutritional supplements affect male fertility, as well as reveal the seemingly chaotic but traceable phenomena. It will be crucial for the development of diagnostics, treatments, and maintenance methods needed to enhance male fertility, which is also the objective of this research topic.

This Research Topic encourages Original Research, Reviews, and other accepted article types, including, but not limited to:
• Analyses of the possible effects of environmental pollutants brought about by industry and human activities, such as endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), on male reproduction;
• Links between men's overall health and fertility, as well as andrological effects of various illnesses, including infectious diseases, deficiencies, hereditary diseases, and physiological disorders;
• Effects of medications and dietary supplements on male reproductive systems, such as those used for cancer treatment, psychiatric disorders, diabetes, etc;
• The use of herbal and medicinal remedies to prevent or reverse adverse andrological effects caused by putative toxic chemicals and diseases;
• Specific molecular mechanisms and signalling pathways that affect spermatogenesis, the testis, and sperm function associated with the above 4 points;
• Shared molecular mechanisms underlying both the generation and remission of male infertility disease.

Keywords: male health threat, exposure effects, risk assessment, treatment and prevention, common molecular factors

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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