College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China.
Heilongjiang Key Laboratory for Laboratory Animals and Comparative Medicine, Harbin, China.
Environ Toxicol. 2022 Jan;37(1):69-78. doi: 10.1002/tox.23378. Epub 2021 Sep 27.
Mercury as a toxic heavy metal will accumulate in the body and induce various diseases through the food chain. However, it is unknown that the detailed mechanism of reproductive disorder induced by inorganic mercury in male mice to date. This study investigated the toxicological effect of mercuric chloride (HgCl ) exposure on reproductive system in male mice. Male Kunming mice received normal saline daily or HgCl (3 mg/kg bodyweight) by intraperitoneal injection for a week. The reproductive function was evaluated, and the HgCl exposure induced the decline of sperm quality, pregnancy rate, mean litter size, and survival rate. Notably, we firstly found the HgCl -induced immunosuppression and fibrosis in mice testis according to the results of RNA sequencing. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that HgCl exposure disrupts the reproductive system and induces testicular immunosuppression and fibrosis via inhibition of the CD74 signaling pathway in male mice.
汞作为一种有毒重金属，会通过食物链在体内积累，并诱发各种疾病。然而，目前尚不清楚无机汞对雄性小鼠生殖功能紊乱的详细机制。本研究旨在探讨氯化汞（HgCl ）暴露对雄性小鼠生殖系统的毒理学效应。雄性昆明小鼠每天给予生理盐水或腹腔注射 HgCl （3mg/kg 体重），持续一周。评估其生殖功能，结果显示 HgCl 暴露可降低精子质量、妊娠率、平均窝产仔数和存活率。值得注意的是，根据 RNA 测序的结果，我们首次发现 HgCl 可诱导小鼠睾丸免疫抑制和纤维化。综上，这些发现表明 HgCl 通过抑制 CD74 信号通路，破坏雄性小鼠的生殖系统，导致睾丸免疫抑制和纤维化。
