Shen Xiao-Li, Tang Wei-Feng, Liu Junxia, Ao Jun-Jie, Liu Xiao-Ning, Huang Xian, Qiu Jin, Zhang Jun, Zhang Qian-Long
Ministry of Education-Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children's Environmental Health, Xinhua Hospital,Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200092, China.
School of Public Health,Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China.
Se Pu. 2024 Feb;42(2):203-210. doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1123.2023.09009.
Phenols such as bisphenols, parabens, and triclosan are common environmental endocrine disruptors. Previous epidemiological studies have suggested that phenols may affect semen quality, but the results were inconsistent. In addition, most existing studies have been limited to the effects of a single chemical compound, ignoring the health effects of mixed exposure to multiple chemicals. Thus, we aimed to explore the associations between individual and mixed exposure to phenols and various semen quality parameters. In this study, a rapid and sensitive method was used to determine 18 phenolic compounds in urine samples of 799 volunteers who donated sperm samples to the Shanghai Human Sperm Bank. A spot urine sample was collected from each subject on the day of their clinic visit and stored at -20 ℃ until testing. Urine samples (200 μL) were extracted and added with 20 μL of an internal standard and 50 μL of β-glucuronidase solution. The mixtures were then incubated for 12 h at 37 ℃. After hydrolysis, the samples were extracted twice using ethyl acetate (500 μL). The concentrations of the 18 phenolic compounds were measured using high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). Semen quality parameters were analyzed using a computer-aided semen analyzer. Multiple linear regressions were used to detect the associations between individual phenol exposure and semen quality parameters. In addition, weighted quantile sum (WQS) models were used to explore the associations between mixed-phenol exposure and semen quality parameters. After adjusting for potential covariates, the results of multiple linear regressions showed that exposure to ethyl paraben (EtP) was significantly negatively associated with sperm concentration and total sperm count (P<0.05). In addition, exposure to mixed phenols was significantly associated with decreased sperm concentration; methyl paraben (MeP) and EtP were identified as the main contributors to this decrease. Thus, phenol exposure may be associated with decreased semen quality in young males, particularly with respect to sperm concentration and total sperm count.
双酚、对羟基苯甲酸酯和三氯生等酚类物质是常见的环境内分泌干扰物。以往的流行病学研究表明，酚类物质可能会影响精液质量，但结果并不一致。此外，大多数现有研究仅限于单一化合物的影响，而忽略了多种化学物质混合暴露对健康的影响。因此，我们旨在探讨酚类物质的个体暴露和混合暴露与各种精液质量参数之间的关联。在本研究中，我们采用了一种快速灵敏的方法，对799名向上海人类精子库捐献精液样本的志愿者的尿液样本中的18种酚类化合物进行了测定。在每位受试者就诊当天采集一份即时尿样，并在-20℃下保存直至检测。取200μL尿液样本进行提取，加入20μL内标和50μLβ-葡萄糖醛酸酶溶液。然后将混合物在37℃下孵育12小时。水解后，用乙酸乙酯（500μL）对样本进行两次萃取。采用高效液相色谱-串联质谱法（HPLC-MS/MS）测定18种酚类化合物的浓度。使用计算机辅助精液分析仪分析精液质量参数。采用多元线性回归检测个体酚类暴露与精液质量参数之间的关联。此外，使用加权分位数和（WQS）模型探讨混合酚类暴露与精液质量参数之间的关联。在对潜在协变量进行调整后，多元线性回归结果显示，对羟基苯甲酸乙酯（EtP）暴露与精子浓度和精子总数显著负相关（P<0.05）。此外，混合酚类暴露与精子浓度降低显著相关；对羟基苯甲酸甲酯（MeP）和EtP被确定为导致这种降低的主要因素。因此，酚类暴露可能与年轻男性精液质量下降有关，尤其是在精子浓度和精子总数方面。
