Heat Stress and Bull Semen: From Endocrine and Molecular Dysregulation to Targeted Intervention
- 1Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Breeding, Institute of Poultry Science, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan 250100, China
- 2Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Multi-Omics of MARA, Institute of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan 250100, China
Abstract
Heat stress, a critical environmental stressor intensified by global warming, increasingly threatens bull semen quality. This review synthesizes the multi-level mechanisms underlying this impairment. Heat-stressed bulls exhibit behavioral changes that serve as early indicators of reproductive dysfunction, alongside pronounced declines in routine semen parameters and alterations in the seminal plasma biochemical microenvironment. At the endocrine level, heat stress disrupts the hypothalamic–pituitary axes, suppressing testosterone synthesis and perturbing the testicular microenvironment to compromise spermatogenesis. At the molecular level, altered expression of heat-stress-related genes and epigenetic reprogramming—involving non-coding RNAs, DNA methylation, and m6A methylation—collectively disturb this process. Notably, the “gut–testis” axis emerges as a key pathway: heat-induced gut microbiota dysbiosis compromises intestinal barrier integrity, and immune and endocrine signals from translocated microbial metabolites ultimately impair testicular function and semen quality, as evidenced by cross-species studies. At the application level, the above mechanistic evidence, which is largely derived from model animals or non-bovine livestock, still requires direct and systematic validation in bulls. Collectively, this review provides an integrative mechanistic framework for heat stress-induced deterioration of bull semen quality and highlights critical directions for developing targeted mitigation strategies under global climate change.
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BibTeX
@article{zhu2026heat,
title = {{Heat Stress and Bull Semen: From Endocrine and Molecular Dysregulation to Targeted Intervention}},
author = {Qingyu Zhu and Wei You and Haijian Cheng and Xin Hu and Fugui Jiang and Luyang Sun and Enliang Song},
journal = {Biomolecules},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/biom16101481},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2218-273X/16/10/1481},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Heat Stress and Bull Semen: From Endocrine and Molecular Dysregulation to Targeted Intervention
AU - Qingyu Zhu
AU - Wei You
AU - Haijian Cheng
AU - Xin Hu
AU - Fugui Jiang
AU - Luyang Sun
AU - Enliang Song
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Biomolecules
DO - 10.3390/biom16101481
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2218-273X/16/10/1481
AB - Heat stress, a critical environmental stressor intensified by global warming, increasingly threatens bull semen quality. This review synthesizes the multi-level mechanisms underlying this impairment. Heat-stressed bulls exhibit behavioral changes that serve as early indicators of reproductive dysfunction, alongside pronounced declines in routine semen parameters and alterations in the seminal plasma biochemical microenvironment. At the endocrine level, heat stress disrupts the hypothalamic–pituitary axes, suppressing testosterone synthesis and perturbing the testicular microenvironment to compromise spermatogenesis. At the molecular level, altered expression of heat-stress-related genes and epigenetic reprogramming—involving non-coding RNAs, DNA methylation, and m6A methylation—collectively disturb this process. Notably, the “gut–testis” axis emerges as a key pathway: heat-induced gut microbiota dysbiosis compromises intestinal barrier integrity, and immune and endocrine signals from translocated microbial metabolites ultimately impair testicular function and semen quality, as evidenced by cross-species studies. At the application level, the above mechanistic evidence, which is largely derived from model animals or non-bovine livestock, still requires direct and systematic validation in bulls. Collectively, this review provides an integrative mechanistic framework for heat stress-induced deterioration of bull semen quality and highlights critical directions for developing targeted mitigation strategies under global climate change.
SN - 2218-273X
ER -