Department of Urology, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200011, China.
Department of Molecular Diagnostics, The Core Laboratory in Medical Center of Clinical Research, Department of Endocrinology, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Medical Genomics, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200011, China.
Environ Pollut. 2024 Apr 1;346:123567. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2024.123567. Epub 2024 Feb 15.
The harmful effects of microplastics (MPs) on male fertility are receiving more and more attention. However, the impact of low-dose MPs exposure on the reproductive function of male mice is still unclear. In this study, we exposed male mice to low-dose MPs (25-30 μg/kg body weight/day) or low-dose MPs combined with high-fat diet (HFD) feeding. Our results showed that low-dose MPs exposure or HFD feeding significantly reduced sperm quality and the number of offspring born, while low-dose MPs exposure combined with HFD feeding further enhanced the above effects. The combination of low-dose MPs exposure and HFD feeding resulted in a notable elevation of inflammatory level within the prostate of mice and induced apoptosis of prostate epithelium and a decrease in nutrients (zinc, citrate) in seminal plasma fluid. Our findings in this study could provide valuable clues for better understanding the influence of low-dose MPs exposure on the reproductive system under metabolic disorders and facilitate the development of the prevention of reproductive toxicity caused by MPs exposure.
微塑料（MPs）对男性生育力的有害影响越来越受到关注。然而，低剂量 MPs 暴露对雄性小鼠生殖功能的影响尚不清楚。在这项研究中，我们将雄性小鼠暴露于低剂量 MPs（25-30μg/kg 体重/天）或低剂量 MPs 联合高脂肪饮食（HFD）喂养。我们的结果表明，低剂量 MPs 暴露或 HFD 喂养显著降低了精子质量和后代出生数量，而低剂量 MPs 暴露联合 HFD 喂养进一步增强了上述效应。低剂量 MPs 暴露和 HFD 喂养的组合导致小鼠前列腺内炎症水平显著升高，并诱导前列腺上皮细胞凋亡和精液中营养物质（锌、柠檬酸盐）减少。我们在这项研究中的发现可以为更好地理解代谢紊乱下低剂量 MPs 暴露对生殖系统的影响提供有价值的线索，并有助于开发预防 MPs 暴露引起的生殖毒性的方法。
