Premium
Fine particle matter disrupts the blood–testis barrier by activating TGF‐β3/p38 MAPK pathway and decreasing testosterone secretion in rat
Author(s) -
Liu Jianhui,
Ren Lihua,
Wei Jialiu,
Zhang Jin,
Zhu Yupeng,
Li Xiangyang,
Jing Li,
Duan Junchao,
Zhou Xianqing,
Sun Zhiwei
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
environmental toxicology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.813
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1522-7278
pISSN - 1520-4081
DOI - 10.1002/tox.22556
Subject(s) - occludin , medicine , endocrinology , testosterone (patch) , luteinizing hormone , p38 mitogen activated protein kinases , sperm , mapk/erk pathway , spermatogenesis , tight junction , biology , protein kinase a , secretion , reproductive toxicity , hormone , kinase , chemistry , andrology , toxicity , microbiology and biotechnology
Fine particle matter (PM) is correlated with male reproductive dysfunction in animals and humans, but the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. To investigate the toxic mechanism of PM, 32 male Sprague‐Dawley (SD) rats were exposed to saline or PM 2.5 with the doses of 1.8, 5.4, and 16.2 mg/kg.b.w. via intratracheal instillation, respectively, one time every 3 days, in total times for 30 days. Sperm concentration, hormone level, the expressions of BTB‐associated protein and the mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway, tumor necrosis factor α and transforming growth factor β3 levels were detected. The results showed a decrease in sperm number, testosterone and luteinizing hormone levels and altered ultrastructure of BTB in testis of rat after exposure to PM 2.5 . The protein levels of N‐Cadherin, Occludin, Claudin‐11, and Connexin‐43 were significantly decreased in the testes. TGF‐β3 content in testes showed increase, with the p‐p38/p38 MAPK ratio also increasing after PM 2.5 exposure. These results demonstrate that PM 2.5 restrained the expressions of BTB‐associated proteins through activating TGF‐β3/p38 MAPK pathway and decreasing testosterone secretion, and therefore lead to the damage of BTB resulting in the decrease of sperm quality, which might be the potential reasons for its negative effects on spermatogenesis and male reproduction.