Hemmingsen Jette Gjerke, Hougaard Karin Sørig, Talsness Chris, Wellejus Anja, Loft Steffen, Wallin Håkan, Møller Peter
Section of Environmental Health, Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Toxicology. 2009 Oct 1;264(1-2):61-8. doi: 10.1016/j.tox.2009.07.012. Epub 2009 Jul 24.
In utero exposure to diesel exhaust particles may reduce sperm production in adulthood. We investigated the effect of prenatal exposure to diesel exhaust particles on the male reproductive system and assessed endocrine disruption and regulation of aquaporin expression as possible mechanisms of action. Dams inhaled 20 mg/m(3) of diesel exhaust particle standard reference material 2975 (SRM2975) or clean air for 1h/day on day 7-19 during pregnancy. Male offspring were killed on day 170 after birth. The dams that had inhaled SRM2975 delivered offspring, which in adulthood had reduced daily sperm production (P=0.046, Mann-Whitney U-test), whereas there were no differences in the body weight, testis weight and anogenital distance. There was no difference in plasma testosterone and estradiol concentrations, although some samples were not analyzed precisely because of technical problems. The gene regulation of the androgen receptor, anti-Müllerian hormone, estrogen receptor-alpha, estrogen receptor-beta, follicle-stimulating hormone receptor, insulin-like growth factor 3, luteinising hormone receptor, and aromatase in testes, were not significantly altered in the group exposed in utero to SRM2975 compared to controls. These data indicate that prenatal exposure to SRM2975 was not associated with endocrine disruptor activity in adulthood. There was no significant change in expression levels of aquaporins 7, 8 and 9 in testes tissue, measured as mRNA expression and protein levels by immunohistochemistry. In conclusion, prenatal exposure to SRM2975 was associated with reduced daily sperm production in adulthood, which was not possible to clearly associate with altered endocrine function or expression of aquaporins in the testes.
子宫内暴露于柴油废气颗粒可能会降低成年期的精子生成量。我们研究了产前暴露于柴油废气颗粒对雄性生殖系统的影响，并评估了内分泌干扰以及水通道蛋白表达的调节作为可能的作用机制。在孕期的第7至19天，母鼠每天吸入1小时20毫克/立方米的柴油废气颗粒标准参考物质2975（SRM2975）或清洁空气。雄性后代在出生后第170天被处死。吸入SRM2975的母鼠所产的后代在成年期每日精子生成量减少（曼-惠特尼U检验，P = 0.046），而体重、睾丸重量和肛门生殖距离并无差异。血浆睾酮和雌二醇浓度没有差异，不过由于技术问题，部分样本未能精确分析。与对照组相比，子宫内暴露于SRM2975的组中，睾丸内雄激素受体、抗苗勒管激素、雌激素受体α、雌激素受体β、促卵泡激素受体、胰岛素样生长因子3、黄体生成素受体和芳香化酶的基因调控没有显著改变。这些数据表明，产前暴露于SRM2975与成年期的内分泌干扰物活性无关。通过免疫组织化学测量睾丸组织中水通道蛋白7、8和9的mRNA表达和蛋白水平，其表达水平没有显著变化。总之，产前暴露于SRM2975与成年期每日精子生成量减少有关，而这无法明确与睾丸内分泌功能改变或水通道蛋白表达相关联。
