Yamagishi Nozomi, Ito Yuki, Ramdhan Doni Hikmat, Nakajima Tamie
Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan.
Nihon Eiseigaku Zasshi. 2011 Sep;66(4):634-7. doi: 10.1265/jjh.66.634.
Diesel exhaust (DE) is one of the major air pollutants in the world. DE disrupts steroid hormone levels, which may result from the disruption of spermatogenesis. Steroidogenesis occurs not only in the testis but also in the brain. Therefore, we investigated the effects of nanoparticle-rich DE (NR-DE) on steroidogenesis in both the testis and hippocampus. Exposure to NR-DE at concentrations comparable to the environmental standard for particulate matters 2.5 (PM(2.5)) in Japan increased plasma testosterone level. This exposure increased the expression levels of genes involved in steroidogenesis in the testis, but not in the hippocampus, suggesting that NR-DE disrupts steroid hormone balance. This finding suggests the need to reconsider the environmental limit of PM(2.5) in Japan.
柴油尾气（DE）是全球主要的空气污染物之一。DE会扰乱类固醇激素水平，这可能是由于精子发生过程受到干扰所致。类固醇生成不仅发生在睾丸中，也发生在大脑中。因此，我们研究了富含纳米颗粒的DE（NR-DE）对睾丸和海马体中类固醇生成的影响。暴露于与日本颗粒物2.5（PM(2.5)）环境标准相当浓度的NR-DE会使血浆睾酮水平升高。这种暴露增加了睾丸中参与类固醇生成的基因表达水平，但在海马体中却没有，这表明NR-DE会扰乱类固醇激素平衡。这一发现表明有必要重新审视日本PM(2.5)的环境限值。
