Amiri Gholamreza, Valipoor Akram, Parivar Kazem, Modaresi Mehrdad, Noori Ali, Gharamaleki Hamideh, Taheri Jafar, Kazemi Ali
Department of Physic, Falavarjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran.
Department of Physiology, Basic Science Faculty, Shahrekord Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord, Iran.
Int J Fertil Steril. 2016 Jan-Mar;9(4):512-20. doi: 10.22074/ijfs.2015.4610. Epub 2015 Dec 23.
Quantum dots (QDs) are new types of fluorescent materials for biological labeling. QDs toxicity study is an essential requirement for future clinical applications. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate cytotoxic effects of CdSe: ZnS QDs on male reproductive system.
In this experimental study, the different concentrations of CdSe: ZnS QDs (10, 20 and 40 mg/kg) were injected to 32 male mice (adult group) and 24 pregnant mice (embryo group) on day 8 of gestation. The histological changes of testis and epididymis were studied by a light microscopy, and the number of seminiferous tubules between two groups was compared. One-way analysis of variance (one-way Anova) using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS, SPSS Inc., USA) version 16 were performed for statistical analysis.
In adult group, histological studies of testis tissues showed a high toxicity of CdSe: ZnS in 40 mg/kg dose followed by a decrease in lamina propria; destruction in interstitial tissue; deformation of seminiferous tubules; and a reduction in number of spermatogonia, spermatocytes, and spermatids. However, there was an interesting result in fetal testis development, meaning there was no significant effect on morphology and structure of the seminiferous tubules and number of sperm stem cells. Also histological study of epididymis tissues in both groups (adult and embryo groups) showed no significant effect on morphology and structure of tubule and epithelial cells, but there was a considerable reduction in number of spermatozoa in the lumen of the epididymal duct in 40 mg/kg dose of adult group.
The toxicity of QDs on testicular tissue of the mice embryo and adult are different before and after puberty. Due to lack of research in this field, this study can be an introduction to evaluate the toxicity of QDs on male reproduction system in different stages of development.
量子点（QDs）是用于生物标记的新型荧光材料。量子点毒性研究是其未来临床应用的一项基本要求。因此，本研究旨在评估CdSe:ZnS量子点对雄性生殖系统的细胞毒性作用。
在本实验研究中，于妊娠第8天给32只雄性小鼠（成年组）和24只妊娠小鼠（胚胎组）注射不同浓度的CdSe:ZnS量子点（10、20和40mg/kg）。通过光学显微镜研究睾丸和附睾的组织学变化，并比较两组之间的生精小管数量。使用美国SPSS公司（SPSS Inc.）的社会科学统计软件包（SPSS）版本16进行单因素方差分析（单向方差分析）以进行统计分析。
在成年组中，睾丸组织的组织学研究显示，40mg/kg剂量的CdSe:ZnS具有高毒性，随后固有层减少；间质组织破坏；生精小管变形；精原细胞、精母细胞和精子细胞数量减少。然而，在胎儿睾丸发育方面有一个有趣的结果，即对生精小管的形态和结构以及精子干细胞数量没有显著影响。此外，两组（成年组和胚胎组）附睾组织的组织学研究均显示对小管和上皮细胞的形态和结构没有显著影响，但成年组40mg/kg剂量的附睾管腔内精子数量有相当程度的减少。
量子点对小鼠胚胎和成年睾丸组织的毒性在青春期前后有所不同。由于该领域缺乏研究，本研究可为评估量子点在不同发育阶段对雄性生殖系统的毒性提供参考。
