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Exposure to e‐cigarette smoke enhances sperm mitochondrial respiration in mature mice
Author(s) -
Saito Jeremy,
Saito Erin,
Arroyo Juan,
Reynolds Paul,
Jenkins Timothy,
Bikman Benjamin
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2021.35.s1.04897
Subject(s) - sperm , andrology , sperm motility , smoke , human fertilization , epididymis , biology , spermatogenesis , mitochondrion , toxicology , physiology , chemistry , medicine , anatomy , biochemistry , organic chemistry
Although paternal mitochondria degenerate in the zygote, sperm mitochondria are essential for fertilization in that they produce ATP necessary for sperm motility. Therefore, sperm fertility is highly dependent on mitochondrial efficiency. Here we explored whether exposure to secondhand cigarette or e‐cigarette (e‐cig) smoke in mature mice affects sperm mitochondrial respiration. Mature mice (3‐5 months old) were exposed to secondhand cigarette smoke or e‐cig smoke five days a week for two weeks. Mice exposed to cigarette smoke were exposed for 30 minutes a day (10 minutes to smoke from two cigarettes, 10 minutes to fresh air, 10 minutes to smoke from one cigarette) and mice exposed to e‐cig smoke were continuously exposed for 30 minutes a day. After smoke exposure, mice were anesthetized and a bilateral dissection of the testes was performed to isolate the caput, corpus, and cauda epididymis, and the vas deferens. Mature sperm collected from each portion of the reproductive tract was pooled for analysis. High resolution respirometry was subsequently performed by following a substrate‐uncoupler inhibitor‐titration (SUIT) protocol. We observed a significant increase in maximum oxygen consumption in sperm from e‐cig‐treated mice, and a trend toward significance in secondhand smoke‐treated mice compared to controls. These data are limited insofar as they do not indicate whether this increase in oxygen consumption is associated with an increase in ATP or ROS production so further analysis will be necessary. However, these findings suggest that exposure to e‐cig smoke affects sperm mitochondria, which may have negative effects on male fertility.