Figure 3

Obesity causes the destruction of zebrafish BTB structure and testicular inflammation. (A) Testicular HE staining in the control and obese groups. Yellow stars indicate sperm vesicles of the same type of spermatogenic cells in the zebrafish testis, and the red arrow indicates the interstitial part. Obviously, the zebrafish spermatogenic cells were disorderly arranged, and the interstitium was thickened. (B) Ultrastructure of zebrafish BTB. Red boxes indicate connections between Sertoli cells and germ cells in zebrafish testis. In the enlarged image, the BTB structure of the obese group is damaged, as shown by the red arrow. (C) Detection of testosterone in the blood. The testosterone level of the obese group was markedly decreased (P < 0.001). (D) Effects of ODP exposure on the mRNA levels of tnf-α, il-1β, and il-8 in zebrafish testis. (E) Detection of IL-1β expression in the blood by ELISA. Data represent mean ± SME (n = 5). The asterisk represents a statistically significant difference when compared with the corresponding controls; *, ** and *** at P < 0.05, P < 0.01 and P < 0.001, respectively.