Li Yaping, Zheng Zhiyi, Luo Dan, Liu Chong, Yang Sijie, Chen Yingjun, Hu Qian, Lu Wenqing, Wang Yixin, Mei Surong
State Key Laboratory of Environment Health (Incubation), Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Environment and Health (Wuhan), Ministry of Environmental Protection, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, #13 Hangkong Road, Wuhan, Hubei, 430030, China.
Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 511436, China.
Environ Res. 2024 Jan 1;240(Pt 1):117458. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.117458. Epub 2023 Oct 24.
Accumulating evidence indicates that organophosphate esters (OPEs) exposure may affect semen quality. As a crucial factor in male reproduction, reproductive hormones might be linked organophosphate esters (OPEs) exposure and semen quality. This study aimed to explore the mediating role of reproductive hormones on the association between OPEs exposure and semen quality. Five serum reproductive hormones, semen quality, and 16 urinary OPE metabolites were measured among 491 reproductive-aged men from a reproductive center. The associations of urinary OPE metabolites with reproductive hormones and semen quality were assessed using multivariable linear regression models, and the mediating role of reproductive hormones was evaluated by mediation analyses. We found that follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) was positively associated with diphenyl phosphate (DPHP) that in turn was negatively associated with sperm total count. In addition, inverse associations were exhibited between serum FSH and sperm concentration, sperm total count, total motility, and progressive motility (all P <0.05). Mediation analysis further showed that FSH mediated 13.7% of the inverse association of DPHP and sperm total count. Although further investigations are required, our results suggest that FSH was an intermediate mechanism in the associations between OPEs exposure and impaired semen quality.
越来越多的证据表明，接触有机磷酸酯（OPEs）可能会影响精液质量。作为男性生殖的一个关键因素，生殖激素可能与接触有机磷酸酯（OPEs）和精液质量有关。本研究旨在探讨生殖激素在OPEs暴露与精液质量之间的关联中所起的中介作用。对一家生殖中心的491名育龄男性测量了五种血清生殖激素、精液质量和16种尿中OPE代谢物。使用多变量线性回归模型评估尿中OPE代谢物与生殖激素和精液质量的关联，并通过中介分析评估生殖激素的中介作用。我们发现，促卵泡激素（FSH）与磷酸二苯酯（DPHP）呈正相关，而DPHP又与精子总数呈负相关。此外，血清FSH与精子浓度、精子总数、总活力和前向运动能力之间呈负相关（所有P<0.05）。中介分析进一步表明，FSH介导了DPHP与精子总数负相关的13.7%。尽管需要进一步研究，但我们的结果表明，FSH是OPEs暴露与精液质量受损之间关联的一种中间机制。
