Ijaz Muhammad Umar, Shahzadi Sabahat, Samad Abdul, Ehsan Nazia, Ahmed Hussain, Tahir Arfa, Rehman Humaira, Anwar Haseeb
Department of Zoology, Wildlife and Fisheries, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
Department of Zoology, The University of Buner, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
Dose Response. 2021 Jun 4;19(2):15593258211019882. doi: 10.1177/15593258211019882. eCollection 2021 Apr-Jun.
Due to the continuous increase in polystyrene microplastics (PS MPs) incorporation in the environment, growing number of adverse effects on living organisms and ecosystem have become a global concern. Therefore, current study was planned to elucidate the impacts of 5 different concentrations control, 2, 20, 200, and 2000 μgL of PS MPs on testicular tissues of rats. PS MPs significantly reduced the activities of antioxidant enzymes (catalase, superoxide dismutase and peroxidase) as well as total protein contents, while elevated the level of lipid peroxidation and reactive oxygen species. Moreover, expressions of steroidogenic enzymes (3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and steroidogenic acute regulatory protein) as well as the levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH) in plasma, intra-testicular testosterone and plasma testosterone were reduced and a significant ( < 0.05) reduction was noticed in the sperm count, motility and viability. Furthermore, PS MPs significantly up-regulated the expressions of Bax and caspase-3, while down-regulated the Bcl-2 expression. The histomorphological assessment revealed significant damages in the testicles as well as decrease in the number of germ cells (spermatogenic, spermatocytes and spermatids). Collectively, PS MPs generated oxidative stress (OS) and caused potential damage to the testicles of rats in a dose-dependent manner.
由于环境中聚苯乙烯微塑料（PS MPs）的含量持续增加，其对生物和生态系统产生的越来越多的不利影响已成为全球关注的问题。因此，本研究旨在阐明5种不同浓度（对照、2、20、200和2000 μg/L）的PS MPs对大鼠睾丸组织的影响。PS MPs显著降低了抗氧化酶（过氧化氢酶、超氧化物歧化酶和过氧化物酶）的活性以及总蛋白含量，同时提高了脂质过氧化和活性氧的水平。此外，类固醇生成酶（3β-羟基类固醇脱氢酶、17β-羟基类固醇脱氢酶和类固醇生成急性调节蛋白）的表达以及血浆中促卵泡激素（FSH）、黄体生成素（LH）、睾丸内睾酮和血浆睾酮的水平均降低，精子数量、活力和存活率显著降低（<0.05）。此外，PS MPs显著上调了Bax和caspase-3的表达，同时下调了Bcl-2的表达。组织形态学评估显示睾丸有明显损伤，生殖细胞（生精细胞、精母细胞和精子细胞）数量减少。总体而言，PS MPs产生了氧化应激（OS），并以剂量依赖的方式对大鼠睾丸造成潜在损伤。
