Key Laboratory of the Provincial Education, Department of Heilongjiang for Common Animal Disease Prevention and Treatment, College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China.
College of Agriculture, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang 524000, China.
Sci Total Environ. 2020 Jan 20;701:135077. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135077. Epub 2019 Nov 1.
Aflatoxin B (AFB) is an unavoidable environmental pollutants, which seriously endangers human and animal health. AFB has male reproductive toxicity, yet the underlying mechanisms remain inconclusive. Mitochondra are a kind of crucial organelle for maintaining spermatogenesis in testis. Thus, we hypothesized that AFB can impair mitochondria to aggravate testicular damage and spermatogenesis disorder. To verify this hypothesis, 48 male mice were intragastrically administered with 0, 0.375, 0.75 or 1.5 mg/kg body weight AFB for 30 days, respectively. In this study, we found AFB caused testicular histopathological lesions and spermatogenesis abnormalities, with the elevation of oxidative stress (increased HO, whereas decreased SOD and GSH). Significant mitochondria structure damage of germ cells and Leydig cells, MMP loss, ATP contents reduction, and inhibited activities of mitochondrial complexes I-IV in mice testis were found in AFB treatment groups. Besides, AFB inhibited mitochondrial biogenesis and mitochondrial dynamics, presenting as the decreased mRNA and protein expressions of PGC-1α, Nrf1, Tfam, Drp1, Fis1, Mfn1 and Opa1. The results revealed that the mitochondrial damage were involved in AFB-induced testicular damage and spermatogenesis disorder, providing a considerable direction to clarify potential mechanisms of AFB reproductive toxicity.
黄曲霉毒素 B（AFB）是一种不可避免的环境污染物，严重危害人类和动物健康。AFB 具有雄性生殖毒性，但潜在机制尚不清楚。线粒体是维持睾丸精子发生的一种重要细胞器。因此，我们假设 AFB 可以损害线粒体，加重睾丸损伤和精子发生障碍。为了验证这一假设，将 48 只雄性小鼠分别灌胃给予 0、0.375、0.75 或 1.5mg/kg 体重的 AFB，连续 30 天。在这项研究中，我们发现 AFB 导致睾丸组织病理学损伤和精子发生异常，氧化应激增加（HO 升高，而 SOD 和 GSH 降低）。在 AFB 处理组中，发现生殖细胞和间质细胞的线粒体结构明显受损，MMP 丢失，ATP 含量减少，线粒体复合物 I-IV 的活性受到抑制。此外，AFB 抑制线粒体生物发生和线粒体动力学，表现为 PGC-1α、Nrf1、Tfam、Drp1、Fis1、Mfn1 和 Opa1 的 mRNA 和蛋白表达减少。结果表明，线粒体损伤参与了 AFB 诱导的睾丸损伤和精子发生障碍，为阐明 AFB 生殖毒性的潜在机制提供了重要方向。
