College of Animal Science and Technology, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, 266109, China.
College of Life Sciences, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, 266109, China.
Chemosphere. 2020 Apr;244:125493. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.125493. Epub 2019 Nov 29.
Zearalenone (ZEA), as a contaminant commonly found in our daily diet, has been widely studied for its toxicity. However, the exact mechanism underlying ZEA induced reproduction disorders remains unclear. Our study aimed to elucidate the underlying relationship between aberrations in the gut microbiota and the degeneration of the ovarian reserve following exposure to ZEA. Four-week-old mice were treated with different doses (0, 20, 40 μg/kg bw/day) of ZEA for 2 weeks and it was found that the primordial follicles were dramatically decreased when compared to untreated controls. Moreover, we applied metagenomic shotgun sequencing to investigate the effects of ZEA exposure on the population composition and function of gut microbiota. The results showed that the abundance of three susceptible bacterial strains, parabacteroides, bacteroides and lachnospiraceae were increased in a dose-dependent manner after ZEA exposure, whereas the bacterial glycerophospholipid metabolism pathway was greatly suppressed. Of note, utilizing LC/MS we found lysophosphatidylcholines (LPCs), important metabolites in the process of glycerophospholipid metabolism, were markedly decreased in the plasma of the ZEA treated mice. In conclusion, our findings here provide evidences that the dysfunction in gut microbiome after ZEA exposure may affect the ovarian reserve.
玉米赤霉烯酮（ZEA）作为一种常见的日常饮食污染物，其毒性已得到广泛研究。然而，ZEA 诱导生殖障碍的确切机制仍不清楚。我们的研究旨在阐明肠道微生物群的异常与 ZEA 暴露后卵巢储备功能退化之间的关系。将 4 周龄的小鼠用不同剂量（0、20、40μg/kg bw/day）的 ZEA 处理 2 周，与未处理的对照组相比，原始卵泡明显减少。此外，我们应用宏基因组 shotgun 测序来研究 ZEA 暴露对肠道微生物群种群组成和功能的影响。结果表明，ZEA 暴露后，三种易感性细菌（副拟杆菌、拟杆菌和lachnospiraceae）的丰度呈剂量依赖性增加，而细菌甘油磷脂代谢途径受到显著抑制。值得注意的是，利用 LC/MS 我们发现，ZEA 处理小鼠的血浆中甘油磷脂代谢过程中的重要代谢物溶血磷脂酰胆碱（LPCs）显著减少。总之，我们的研究结果提供了证据，表明 ZEA 暴露后肠道微生物群的功能障碍可能会影响卵巢储备。
