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Normalization of Serum Calcium Restores Fertility in Vitamin D-Deficient Male Rats^1,2,

Department of Biochemistry, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706

We performed experiments to determine whether treatment with vitamin D or 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol could reverse male infertility caused by vitamin D deficiency. Additionally, an attempt was made to distinguish between a direct and an indirect effect of 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol on reproductive tissue. Vitamin D-deficient male rats with impaired fertility were treated with vitamin D and 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol for 3 wk, then mated. Secondly, vitamin D-deficient male rats were made normocalcemic by increasing dietary calcium, and their fertility was compared with that of vitamin D-deficient, hypocalcemic rats. The fertility of male rats was restored by treatment with either vitamin D or 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol. However, fertility was also restored in vitamin D-deficient animals by feeding them a diet supplemented with high levels of calcium. These results indicate that the influence of vitamin D and its active metabolite, 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol, on male fertility is indirect. Vitamin D and 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol seemed to influence male fertility by acting on classic target tissues and regulating levels of calcium in reproductive tissues.

KEY WORDS: • vitamin D deficiency • male fertility • reproduction • rats • calcium

¹ This work was supported in part by a Program Project Grant no. DK-14881 from the National Institutes of Health and by the Harry Steenbock Research Fund of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.

² Reprints are not available.

³ Current address: Department of Biology, University of Scranton, Scranton, PA 18510.

⁴ To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Manuscript received 29 August 1991. Revision accepted 13 January 1992.

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