Serum opacity factor rescues fertility among female Scarb1^-/- mice by reducing HDL-free cholesterol bioavailability.

ABSTRACT: Human female infertility, 20% of which is idiopathic, is a public health problem for which better diagnostics and therapeutics are needed. A novel cause of infertility emerged from studies of female mice deficient in the HDL receptor gene (Scarb1). These mice are infertile and have high plasma HDL cholesterol (C) concentrations, due to elevated HDL-free cholesterol (FC), which transfers from HDL to all tissues. Previous studies have indicated that oral delivery of probucol, an HDL-lowering drug, to female Scarb1^-/- mice reduces plasma HDL-C concentrations and rescues fertility. Additionally, serum opacity factor (SOF), a bacterial virulence factor, disrupts HDL structure, and bolus SOF injection into mice reduces plasma HDL-C concentrations. Here, we discovered that delivering S

SUBMITTER: Rosales C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9932678 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature