Lei Min, Zhu Zhenye, Wei Chenlu, Xie Huihui, Guo Ruizhi, Zhao Yanqing, Wang Keer, Wang Mengchen, Chen Wenhui, Xu Xiqiao, Zeng Xinxin, Xu Yining, Zhang Wandi, Chu Yizhe, Sun Yingpu, Yang Qingling
Center for Reproductive Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China.
Henan Key Laboratory of Reproduction and Genetics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China.
Adv Sci (Weinh). 2025 Jan;12(3):e2410353. doi: 10.1002/advs.202410353. Epub 2024 Nov 22.
Silicon dioxide nanoparticles (SiO NPs) are widely utilized in biomedicine due to their controllable size and biocompatibility. While previous studies have demonstrated that prenatal exposure to SiO NPs can traverse the placental barrier and induce neurotoxicity in offspring. However, their reproductive toxicity remains unclear. Here, it is found that prenatal SiO NPs exposure led to subfertility in female offspring, evidenced by decreased ovulation potential, ovarian reserve, and litter size. In contrast, male offspring maintained normal sperm production and fertility. Mechanistic analyses revealed that prenatal SiO NPs exposure disrupted meiotic recombination and increased oocyte apoptosis, resulting in reduced postnatal primordial follicle formation in females. Conversely, meiotic recombination occurring postnatally in male offspring remained unaffected. Notably, treatment with carboxylate (COOH)-functionalized SiO nanoparticles (SiO-COOH NPs) has a minimal impact on fertility in female offspring. Further research, including clinical studies, is needed to confirm these findings in humans. These findings demonstrated gender-specific reproductive toxicity induced by prenatal SiO NPs exposure and highlighted the importance of considering nanoparticle safety in prenatal contexts.
二氧化硅纳米颗粒（SiO NPs）因其可控的尺寸和生物相容性而在生物医学中得到广泛应用。虽然先前的研究表明，产前暴露于SiO NPs可穿过胎盘屏障并在后代中诱发神经毒性。然而，它们的生殖毒性仍不清楚。在此研究中，发现产前暴露于SiO NPs会导致雌性后代生育力下降，表现为排卵潜力、卵巢储备和产仔数减少。相比之下，雄性后代的精子生成和生育能力保持正常。机制分析表明，产前暴露于SiO NPs会破坏减数分裂重组并增加卵母细胞凋亡，导致雌性后代出生后原始卵泡形成减少。相反，雄性后代出生后发生的减数分裂重组未受影响。值得注意的是，用羧基（COOH）功能化的二氧化硅纳米颗粒（SiO-COOH NPs）处理对雌性后代的生育力影响最小。需要进一步的研究，包括临床研究，以在人类中证实这些发现。这些发现证明了产前暴露于SiO NPs会导致性别特异性生殖毒性，并强调了在产前环境中考虑纳米颗粒安全性的重要性。
