Arsenic exposure during juvenile and puberty significantly affected reproductive system development of female SD rats
Infertility affects about 10–15% couples over the world, among which a large number of cases the underlying causes are still unclear. Recent studies suggest that environmental factors may play an important role in these idiopathic infertilities. Arsenic is a heavy metal found in drinking water over...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2022-09-01
|
| Series: | Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147651322006972 |
| _version_ | 1811319793863622656 |
|---|---|
| author | Panpan Chen Qiong Luo Yifeng Lin Jiani Jin Kai-Lun Hu Feixia Wang Jiwei Sun Ruixue Chen Juan Wei Guangdi Chen Dan Zhang |
| author_facet | Panpan Chen Qiong Luo Yifeng Lin Jiani Jin Kai-Lun Hu Feixia Wang Jiwei Sun Ruixue Chen Juan Wei Guangdi Chen Dan Zhang |
| author_sort | Panpan Chen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Infertility affects about 10–15% couples over the world, among which a large number of cases the underlying causes are still unclear. Recent studies suggest that environmental factors may play an important role in these idiopathic infertilities. Arsenic is a heavy metal found in drinking water over the world. Its effect on the development of female reproductive system at the environmental-relevant levels is still largely unknown. To test the hypothesis that arsenic exposure during juvenile and puberty may affect sex maturation and female reproductive system development, SD rats of 3 weeks of age were exposed to arsenic with environmental-relevant levels (0, 0.02, 0.2, or 2 mg/L, n = 16/group) through drinking water for about 44 days until the rats reached adulthood (65 days of age). Arsenic exposure significantly reduced the weights of both ovary and uterus without affecting the body weight. Also, arsenic exposure disturbed estrus cycles and reduced the numbers of primordial follicles and corpora lutea while increased atretic follicles. In addition, arsenic reduced serum levels of estradiol, progesterone and testosterone but increased LH and FSH levels in dose-dependent manners. QPCR and Western blot experiments indicated arsenic selectively down-regulated ovarian steroidogenic-related proteins FSHR, STAR, CYP17A1, HSD3B1 and CYP19A1 and signaling molecules PKA-ERK-JNK-cJUN, without affecting AKT and CREB. As about reproductive capacity, arsenic-exposed dams had smaller pups, reduced litter size and lower number of male pups without a change in female pups. In conclusion, juvenile and pubertal arsenic exposures at environmental-relevant levels significantly reduced reproductive functions and capacity by adult. Since the lowest effective dose is very close to the government safety standards, the relevancy of arsenic over exposure to reproductive defects in human deserves further study. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T12:48:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b7beb85dd3454a06a81b3fcf4ba46fd1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0147-6513 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T12:48:42Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety |
| spelling | doaj.art-b7beb85dd3454a06a81b3fcf4ba46fd12022-12-22T02:46:17ZengElsevierEcotoxicology and Environmental Safety0147-65132022-09-01242113857Arsenic exposure during juvenile and puberty significantly affected reproductive system development of female SD ratsPanpan Chen0Qiong Luo1Yifeng Lin2Jiani Jin3Kai-Lun Hu4Feixia Wang5Jiwei Sun6Ruixue Chen7Juan Wei8Guangdi Chen9Dan Zhang10Key Laboratory of Women’s Reproductive Health of Zhejiang Province, Women’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, ChinaKey Laboratory of Women’s Reproductive Health of Zhejiang Province, Women’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, ChinaKey Laboratory of Women’s Reproductive Health of Zhejiang Province, Women’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, ChinaKey Laboratory of Women’s Reproductive Health of Zhejiang Province, Women’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, ChinaKey Laboratory of Women’s Reproductive Health of Zhejiang Province, Women’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, ChinaKey Laboratory of Women’s Reproductive Health of Zhejiang Province, Women’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, ChinaKey Laboratory of Women’s Reproductive Health of Zhejiang Province, Women’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, ChinaKey Laboratory of Women’s Reproductive Health of Zhejiang Province, Women’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, ChinaKey Laboratory of Women’s Reproductive Health of Zhejiang Province, Women’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, ChinaDepartment of Public Health, and Department of Reproductive Endocrinology of Women's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, ChinaKey Laboratory of Women’s Reproductive Health of Zhejiang Province, Women’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China; Correspondence to: Department of Reproductive Endocrinology, Women’s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310006, China.Infertility affects about 10–15% couples over the world, among which a large number of cases the underlying causes are still unclear. Recent studies suggest that environmental factors may play an important role in these idiopathic infertilities. Arsenic is a heavy metal found in drinking water over the world. Its effect on the development of female reproductive system at the environmental-relevant levels is still largely unknown. To test the hypothesis that arsenic exposure during juvenile and puberty may affect sex maturation and female reproductive system development, SD rats of 3 weeks of age were exposed to arsenic with environmental-relevant levels (0, 0.02, 0.2, or 2 mg/L, n = 16/group) through drinking water for about 44 days until the rats reached adulthood (65 days of age). Arsenic exposure significantly reduced the weights of both ovary and uterus without affecting the body weight. Also, arsenic exposure disturbed estrus cycles and reduced the numbers of primordial follicles and corpora lutea while increased atretic follicles. In addition, arsenic reduced serum levels of estradiol, progesterone and testosterone but increased LH and FSH levels in dose-dependent manners. QPCR and Western blot experiments indicated arsenic selectively down-regulated ovarian steroidogenic-related proteins FSHR, STAR, CYP17A1, HSD3B1 and CYP19A1 and signaling molecules PKA-ERK-JNK-cJUN, without affecting AKT and CREB. As about reproductive capacity, arsenic-exposed dams had smaller pups, reduced litter size and lower number of male pups without a change in female pups. In conclusion, juvenile and pubertal arsenic exposures at environmental-relevant levels significantly reduced reproductive functions and capacity by adult. Since the lowest effective dose is very close to the government safety standards, the relevancy of arsenic over exposure to reproductive defects in human deserves further study.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147651322006972ArsenicOvarian developmentSex hormonesTheca cellsSteroidogenesisPKA/MAPK/cJUN |
| spellingShingle | Panpan Chen Qiong Luo Yifeng Lin Jiani Jin Kai-Lun Hu Feixia Wang Jiwei Sun Ruixue Chen Juan Wei Guangdi Chen Dan Zhang Arsenic exposure during juvenile and puberty significantly affected reproductive system development of female SD rats Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety Arsenic Ovarian development Sex hormones Theca cells Steroidogenesis PKA/MAPK/cJUN |
| title | Arsenic exposure during juvenile and puberty significantly affected reproductive system development of female SD rats |
| title_full | Arsenic exposure during juvenile and puberty significantly affected reproductive system development of female SD rats |
| title_fullStr | Arsenic exposure during juvenile and puberty significantly affected reproductive system development of female SD rats |
| title_full_unstemmed | Arsenic exposure during juvenile and puberty significantly affected reproductive system development of female SD rats |
| title_short | Arsenic exposure during juvenile and puberty significantly affected reproductive system development of female SD rats |
| title_sort | arsenic exposure during juvenile and puberty significantly affected reproductive system development of female sd rats |
| topic | Arsenic Ovarian development Sex hormones Theca cells Steroidogenesis PKA/MAPK/cJUN |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147651322006972 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT panpanchen arsenicexposureduringjuvenileandpubertysignificantlyaffectedreproductivesystemdevelopmentoffemalesdrats AT qiongluo arsenicexposureduringjuvenileandpubertysignificantlyaffectedreproductivesystemdevelopmentoffemalesdrats AT yifenglin arsenicexposureduringjuvenileandpubertysignificantlyaffectedreproductivesystemdevelopmentoffemalesdrats AT jianijin arsenicexposureduringjuvenileandpubertysignificantlyaffectedreproductivesystemdevelopmentoffemalesdrats AT kailunhu arsenicexposureduringjuvenileandpubertysignificantlyaffectedreproductivesystemdevelopmentoffemalesdrats AT feixiawang arsenicexposureduringjuvenileandpubertysignificantlyaffectedreproductivesystemdevelopmentoffemalesdrats AT jiweisun arsenicexposureduringjuvenileandpubertysignificantlyaffectedreproductivesystemdevelopmentoffemalesdrats AT ruixuechen arsenicexposureduringjuvenileandpubertysignificantlyaffectedreproductivesystemdevelopmentoffemalesdrats AT juanwei arsenicexposureduringjuvenileandpubertysignificantlyaffectedreproductivesystemdevelopmentoffemalesdrats AT guangdichen arsenicexposureduringjuvenileandpubertysignificantlyaffectedreproductivesystemdevelopmentoffemalesdrats AT danzhang arsenicexposureduringjuvenileandpubertysignificantlyaffectedreproductivesystemdevelopmentoffemalesdrats |