Key Laboratory of Livestock Biology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi Province, 712100, PR China.
Key Laboratory of Livestock Biology, College of Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi Province, 712100, PR China.
Environ Pollut. 2023 Jun 15;327:121482. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121482. Epub 2023 Mar 24.
Microplastics (MPs) are an emerging pollutant that is becoming recognized as an increasingly serious environmental problem. The biological toxicity and resulting health risks of MPs have attracted much attention in the research community. While the effects of MPs on various mammalian organ systems have been described, their interactions with oocytes and the underlying mechanism of their activity within the reproductive system have remained ambiguous. Here, we discovered that oral administration of MPs to mice (40 mg/kg per day for 30 days) significantly reduced the oocyte maturation and fertilization rate, embryo development, and fertility. Ingestion of MPs significantly increased the ROS level in oocytes and embryos, leading to oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and apoptosis. Moreover, mouse exposure to MPs caused DNA damage in oocytes, including spindle/chromosome morphology defects, and downregulation of actin and Juno expression in mouse oocytes. In addition, mice were also exposed to MPs (40 mg/kg per day) during gestation and lactation to determine trans-generational reproductive toxicity. The results showed that maternal exposure to MPs during pregnancy resulted in a decline in birth and postnatal body weight in offspring mice. Furthermore, MPs exposure of mothers markedly reduced oocyte maturation, fertilization rate, and embryonic development in their female offspring. This investigation provides new insights on the mechanism of MPs' reproductive toxicity and raises concerns for potential risks of MP pollution on the reproductive health of humans and animals.
微塑料（MPs）是一种新兴污染物，正逐渐被认为是一个日益严重的环境问题。MPs 的生物毒性及其对健康的潜在风险已引起研究界的广泛关注。虽然 MPs 对各种哺乳动物器官系统的影响已有描述，但它们与卵母细胞的相互作用及其在生殖系统中的活性机制仍不清楚。在这里，我们发现，每天给小鼠口服 MPs（40mg/kg，连续 30 天）会显著降低卵母细胞成熟和受精率、胚胎发育和生育能力。MPs 的摄入会显著增加卵母细胞和胚胎中的 ROS 水平，导致氧化应激、线粒体功能障碍和细胞凋亡。此外，暴露于 MPs 的小鼠卵母细胞会发生 DNA 损伤，包括纺锤体/染色体形态缺陷，以及 Juno 和肌动蛋白在小鼠卵母细胞中的表达下调。此外，还在妊娠和哺乳期给小鼠暴露于 MPs，以确定 MPs 的跨代生殖毒性。结果表明，母亲在怀孕期间暴露于 MPs 会导致后代小鼠的出生体重和产后体重下降。此外，母亲暴露于 MPs 会显著降低其雌性后代的卵母细胞成熟、受精率和胚胎发育。这项研究为 MPs 的生殖毒性机制提供了新的见解，并对 MP 污染对人类和动物生殖健康的潜在风险提出了担忧。
