Polychlorinated biphenyls （PCBs） are common environmental contaminants that represent a considerable risk to reproductive toxicity in exposed human populations. Although some experimental studies have suggested an a...Polychlorinated biphenyls （PCBs） are common environmental contaminants that represent a considerable risk to reproductive toxicity in exposed human populations. Although some experimental studies have suggested an association between the levels of PCBs and semen quality, the direct effects of PCBs on human sperm parameters remain largely unexplored. To this aim, a short-term in vitro incubation experiment that better imitated the putative exposure of sperm to Aroclor 1254 （a commercial PCB mixture） in male reproduction tissue was conducted. Human sperm were incubated with various concentrations （0, 1, 5, or 25 mg ｜^-1） of Aroclor 1254 for different amounts of time （3 and 6 h） in vitro. Sperm motility parameters were analyzed with computer-assisted sperm analysis （CASA）. The proportion of sperm with high mitochondrial membrane potential （ΔΨm） and the levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species （ROS） were detected to explore the probable cause of sperm impairment. Human sperm exposed to continuous Aroclor 1254 exhibited： （i） reduced sperm motility and kinematic parameters, （ii） a proportion of sperm with high ΔΨm that decreased in a dose-dependent manner （P 〈 0.05）, and （iii） increased levels of ROS compared with controls （P 〈 0.05）. In conclusion, Aroclor 1254 can decrease sperm motility, which may culminate in increased ROS and general mitochondrial dysfunction, thus affecting the fertilization potential of sperm. Our findings suggest a broader understanding of the effect of Aroclor 1254 on human soerm.展开更多
基金This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China （Grant Numbers 81571511, 81370711, and 30901603）, the Science and Technology Foundation of Shandong （Grant Number 2010GSF 10814）, the Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation （Grant Number ZR2013HM090）, and the Science Foundation of Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Fundamental Research Funds of Shandong University （Grant Numbers 2015QLMS24, 2016QLQN24 and 2015QLQN50）.
文摘Polychlorinated biphenyls （PCBs） are common environmental contaminants that represent a considerable risk to reproductive toxicity in exposed human populations. Although some experimental studies have suggested an association between the levels of PCBs and semen quality, the direct effects of PCBs on human sperm parameters remain largely unexplored. To this aim, a short-term in vitro incubation experiment that better imitated the putative exposure of sperm to Aroclor 1254 （a commercial PCB mixture） in male reproduction tissue was conducted. Human sperm were incubated with various concentrations （0, 1, 5, or 25 mg ｜^-1） of Aroclor 1254 for different amounts of time （3 and 6 h） in vitro. Sperm motility parameters were analyzed with computer-assisted sperm analysis （CASA）. The proportion of sperm with high mitochondrial membrane potential （ΔΨm） and the levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species （ROS） were detected to explore the probable cause of sperm impairment. Human sperm exposed to continuous Aroclor 1254 exhibited： （i） reduced sperm motility and kinematic parameters, （ii） a proportion of sperm with high ΔΨm that decreased in a dose-dependent manner （P 〈 0.05）, and （iii） increased levels of ROS compared with controls （P 〈 0.05）. In conclusion, Aroclor 1254 can decrease sperm motility, which may culminate in increased ROS and general mitochondrial dysfunction, thus affecting the fertilization potential of sperm. Our findings suggest a broader understanding of the effect of Aroclor 1254 on human soerm.
