Vecoli Cecilia, Montano Luigi, Borghini Andrea, Notari Tiziana, Guglielmino Antonino, Mercuri Antonella, Turchi Stefano, Andreassi Maria Grazia
CNR Institute of Clinical Physiology, Via Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy.
Andrology Unit of the "San Francesco d'Assisi" Hospital, ASL Salerno, EcoFoodFertility Project Coordination Unit, Oliveto Citra, 84020 Salerno, Italy.
Int J Mol Sci. 2017 Aug 4;18(8):1703. doi: 10.3390/ijms18081703.
High environmental pressure may impair male fertility by affecting sperm quality, but the real effect remains controversial. Herein, we assessed the influence of environmental exposure on telomere length (TL) in both leukocytes (LTL) and sperm cells (STL). A pilot biomonitoring study was conducted in 112 clinically healthy, normospermic men living in various areas of Campania region (South of Italy) with high ( = 57, High Group) or low ( = 55, Low Group) environmental pressure. TL analysis was assessed by quantitative real time-PCR. STL was not significantly correlated with either age ( = 0.6) or LTL ( = 0.7), but was significantly longer in the High Group compared with the Low Group ( = 0.04). No significant difference was observed between leukocyte TL in the High or Low Group. Our results showed that male residents in areas with high environment exposure had a significant increase in STL. This finding supports the view that the human semen is a sentinel biomarker of environmental exposure.
高环境压力可能通过影响精子质量损害男性生育能力，但实际影响仍存在争议。在此，我们评估了环境暴露对白细胞端粒长度（LTL）和精子细胞端粒长度（STL）的影响。对居住在坎帕尼亚地区（意大利南部）不同区域、环境压力高（n = 57，高环境压力组）或低（n = 55，低环境压力组）的112名临床健康、精子正常的男性进行了一项初步生物监测研究。通过定量实时PCR评估端粒长度分析。STL与年龄（r = 0.6）或LTL（r = 0.7）均无显著相关性，但高环境压力组的STL显著长于低环境压力组（P = 0.04）。高环境压力组和低环境压力组的白细胞端粒长度无显著差异。我们的结果表明，高环境暴露地区的男性居民STL显著增加。这一发现支持了人类精液是环境暴露的哨兵生物标志物这一观点。
