Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Poonch Rawalakot, Azad kashmir, Pakistan.
Department of Theriogenology, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Punjab, 38000, Pakistan.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2020 May;27(13):15223-15232. doi: 10.1007/s11356-020-08049-z. Epub 2020 Feb 18.
Arsenic is a major environmental toxicant of concern, affecting both female and male reproductive systems. The present study was conducted to investigate the toxic effects of arsenic on semen quality and reproductive hormones of Teddy bucks, an important domestic species in regions of Pakistan. In addition to arsenic, vitamin C was fed to a subset of animals to determine if there were ameliorative effects on reproductive parameters. Sixteen adult Teddy bucks were randomly divided into four experimental groups: A (control), B (arsenic 5 mg/kg BW/day orally), and C (arsenic 5 mg/kg BW/day plus vitamin C of an oral dose of 200 mg/kg BW/day). The animals in experimental group D were given only vitamin C (oral dose of 200 mg/kg BW/day). Animals were fed treated food once a day for 12 weeks. Semen quality parameters (volume, motility, count, sperm morphology, live dead ratio, sperm membrane integrity, and sperm DNA integrity) of bucks from each experimental group were evaluated on a weekly basis. Hematology and the level of arsenic in the blood were assessed every 2 weeks. Serum was collected fortnightly to measure reproductive and stress hormones (testosterone, luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormones, and cortisol). At the end of the study, all the animals were slaughtered, and the testes of all the animals were collected and evaluated for histopathology. Semen parameters in arsenic-treated bucks were significantly reduced (p < 0.05) compared with controls. Moreover, the levels of male hormones (testosterone, luteinizing hormone, and follicle-stimulating hormone) were significantly decreased in arsenic-treated animals, while cortisol was significantly increased with arsenic exposure. The histopathological lesions in the testes were present in the form of the loss of germinal epithelium and atrophy of Leydig cells. Supplementation of vitamin C however ameliorated the adverse effects of arsenic on semen quality and hormones. The histopathological lesions were also ameliorated due to vitamin C treatment. This study demonstrates that arsenic can adversely affect reproductive endpoints in Teddy goat bucks and supports the hypothesis that vitamin C is an effective treatment in arsenic-induced toxicosis. This study has high significance for Pakistan, as water contaminated with arsenic is a top health concern and is a recurring issue for both domestic animals and humans.
砷是一种主要的环境有毒物质，对女性和男性的生殖系统都有影响。本研究旨在探讨砷对巴基斯坦地区重要家养物种——Teddy 公鹿精液质量和生殖激素的毒性作用。除了砷之外，还向一部分动物投喂维生素 C，以确定其对生殖参数是否有改善作用。16 只成年 Teddy 公鹿被随机分为四组实验：A（对照组）、B（每天口服 5mg/kgBW 的砷）、C（每天口服 5mg/kgBW 的砷加 200mg/kgBW 的维生素 C）。D 组动物仅口服 200mg/kgBW 的维生素 C。动物每天喂食一次处理过的食物，持续 12 周。每周评估每组公鹿的精液质量参数（体积、活力、计数、精子形态、死活比例、精子膜完整性和精子 DNA 完整性）。每两周评估一次血液中的血液学和砷含量。每两周收集一次血清以测量生殖和应激激素（睾酮、促黄体生成素、卵泡刺激素和皮质醇）。研究结束时，所有动物均被屠宰，收集所有动物的睾丸进行组织病理学评估。与对照组相比，砷处理组公鹿的精液参数显著降低（p<0.05）。此外，砷处理动物的雄性激素（睾酮、促黄体生成素和卵泡刺激素）水平显著降低，而皮质醇水平随着砷暴露而显著升高。睾丸的组织病理学病变表现为生殖上皮丧失和 Leydig 细胞萎缩。然而，补充维生素 C 可改善砷对精液质量和激素的不良影响。维生素 C 治疗还改善了组织病理学病变。本研究表明，砷会对 Teddy 公鹿的生殖终点产生不良影响，并支持维生素 C 是砷中毒的有效治疗方法的假设。本研究对巴基斯坦具有重要意义，因为受砷污染的水是一个主要的健康关注点，对家畜和人类都是一个反复出现的问题。
