Ijaz Muhammad Umar, Batool Moazama, Ashraf Asma, Siddique Muhammad Hussnain, Zafar Sara, Muzammil Saima, Ayaz Fatima, Samad Abdul, Al-Ghanim Khalid, Mahboob Shahid
Department of Zoology, Wildlife and Fisheries, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
Department of Zoology, Govt. College Women University, Sialkot, Pakistan.
Saudi J Biol Sci. 2020 Oct;27(10):2798-2802. doi: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2020.06.045. Epub 2020 Jul 2.
Thimerosal is ethyl mercury based compound which is being used as a preservative in vaccines since decades. Pharmaceutical products and vaccines that contain thimerosal are among the potential source of mercury exposure. Current research was intended to ascertain the reprotoxic effects of thimerosal on rat testes. Twenty-four adult male albino rats were sorted into four groups (n = 6). The first group was a control group. Rats of experimental Group 2, 3 and 4 were treated with various dosages of thimerosal (0.5, 10, 50 mg/kg) respectively. Rats were decapitated after thirty days of trial and different parameters were analyzed. Thimerosal exposure resulted in a significant decrease in antioxidant enzyme activities including catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione reductase (GSR) and increased levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS). Different doses of thimerosal significantly decreased (p < 0.05) the concentration of plasma testosterone, luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). Additionally, Daily sperm production (DSP) and efficiency of daily sperm production were significantly reduced followed by thimerosal exposure. Moreover, thimerosal significantly (p < 0.05) decreased the primary spermatocytes, secondary spermatocytes, number of spermatogonia along with spermatids. Thimerosal induced adverse histopathological and morphological changes in testicular tissues such as decreased Leydig cells, diameter of seminiferous tubules, tunica albuginea height and epithelial height. On the other hand, the increase in tubular lumen and interstitial spaces was observed due to thimerosal. These outcomes indicated that thimerosal has potential reprotoxic effects in male albino rats.
硫柳汞是一种基于乙基汞的化合物，几十年来一直被用作疫苗中的防腐剂。含有硫柳汞的药品和疫苗是汞暴露的潜在来源之一。当前的研究旨在确定硫柳汞对大鼠睾丸的生殖毒性作用。将24只成年雄性白化病大鼠分为四组（每组n = 6）。第一组为对照组。实验2组、3组和4组的大鼠分别用不同剂量的硫柳汞（0.5、10、50毫克/千克）进行处理。试验30天后将大鼠断头，并分析不同参数。硫柳汞暴露导致抗氧化酶活性显著降低，包括过氧化氢酶（CAT）、过氧化物酶（POD）、超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）、谷胱甘肽还原酶（GSR），同时硫代巴比妥酸反应性物质（TBARS）水平升高。不同剂量的硫柳汞显著降低（p < 0.05）血浆睾酮、黄体生成素（LH）和卵泡刺激素（FSH）的浓度。此外，硫柳汞暴露后，每日精子生成量（DSP）和每日精子生成效率显著降低。而且，硫柳汞显著（p < 0.05）减少了初级精母细胞、次级精母细胞、精原细胞以及精子细胞的数量。硫柳汞诱导睾丸组织出现不良的组织病理学和形态学变化，如睾丸间质细胞减少、曲细精管直径减小、白膜高度和上皮高度降低。另一方面，观察到由于硫柳汞导致管腔和间质间隙增大。这些结果表明硫柳汞对雄性白化病大鼠具有潜在的生殖毒性作用。
