Open AccessAgNPs reduce reproductive capability of female mouse for their toxic effects on mouse early embryo development
Author(s) -
Di Zhang,
Fangfang Yu,
Huanhuan Li,
Qiuyue Wang,
Meiya Wang,
Hongli Qian,
Xiaoqing Wu,
Fengrui Wu,
Yong Liu,
Shuanglin Jiang,
Pu Li,
Rong Wang,
Wenyong Li
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
human and experimental toxicology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.572
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1477-0903
pISSN - 0960-3271
DOI - 10.1177/09603271221080235
Subject(s) - embryo , silver nanoparticle , andrology , biology , zygote , embryogenesis , microbiology and biotechnology , medicine , nanotechnology , materials science , nanoparticle
Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are widely applied in the field of personal protection for their powerful toxic effects on cells, and recently, a new type of vaginal gel with AgNPs is used to protect the female reproductive tract from microbes and viruses. However, a high risk of AgNPs to the fetus and the underlying mechanism of AgNPs to interfere in embryo development still remain unclear. Thus, this study investigated the impact of two drugs of vaginal gel with AgNPs on reproductive capability of the female mouse by animal experiment. Then, kinetics of AgNPs affecting embryo development was investigated by in vitro embryos culturing, and cell membrane potential (CMP) of zygotes was analyzed by DiBAC4(3) staining. Results indicated that one of the drugs of vaginal gel certainly injured embryo development in spite of no apparent histological change found in ovaries and uteruses of drug-treated mice. In vitro embryo culturing discovered that the toxic effect of AgNPs on embryo development presented particle sizes and dose dependent, and AgNP treatment could rapidly trigger depolarization of the cell membrane of zygotes. Moreover, AgNPs changed the gene expression pattern of Oct-4 and Cdx2 in blastocysts. All these findings suggest that AgNPs can interfere with normal cellular status including cell membrane potential, which has not been noticed in previous studies on the impact of AgNPs on mammalian embryos. Thus, findings of this study alarm us the risk of applying vaginal gel with AgNPs in individual caring and protection of the female reproductive system.