[Spermatogenesis impairment by polychlorbiphenyls: endocrine and paracrine mechanisms of the damage].

Possible role of changed contents of certain cytokines in the genesis of reproductive disorders was studied in an experiment with rats intoxicated chronically by polychlorbiphenyl (PCB) ecopollutants at the total doses of 0.3 g/kg of the body weight (0.05 LD50 and 3 g/kg of the body weight (0.5 LD50). The enzyme immunodetection was used to analyze blood serum, testicle tissues and sperm for interleukin-1beta, interleukin-6, interleukin-4, tumor necrosis factor alpha, and testosterone and estradiol. The experiment showed that chronic PCB intoxication significantly increases the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and decreases the production of anti-inflammatory cytokines on a background of a sharp testosterone reduction and inversion of the androgen-estrogen profile. Implications of these shifts to steroido- and spermatogenesis are discussed along with cell and molecular mechanisms of cytokine-mediate PCB intoxication.