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Fenvalerate induces germ cell apoptosis in mouse testes through the Fas/FasL signaling pathway

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Abstract

Fenvalerate has a potentially adverse effect on male reproduction and spermatogenesis, whereas the precise mechanism remains obscure. The present study investigated the effects of fenvalerate on germ cell apoptosis in testes. Adult male mice were administered with fenvalerate (15 or 60 mg/kg) by gavage for 28 days. Germ cell apoptosis was determined by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL). The number of TUNEL+ germ cells per tubule and the percentage of tubules with TUNEL+ germ cells were significantly increased in testes of mice treated with fenvalerate in a dose-dependent manner. TUNEL+ germ cells were observed mainly in stages VII–VIII and also stages IX–XII seminiferous tubules in testes. Additional experiments showed that fenvalerate increased the level of active caspase-8 and caspase-3 in testes. In addition, fenvalerate upregulated the expression of Fas and FasL in testes. No significant difference on the expression of Bcl-2 and Bax in testes was observed between fenvalerate-treated mice and controls. Fenvalerate did not affect the leakage of cytochrome c from mitochondria into cytoplasm. In addition, fenvalerate did not cause the activation of caspase-9 in testes. Taken together, these results suggest that fenvalerate induces germ cell apoptosis in testes through the Fas/FasL signaling pathway.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (30671786) and the Key Project of Chinese Ministry of Education (208060).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Toxicology, Anhui Medical University, 230032, Hefei, China

    Xian-Feng Zhao, Qun Wang, Yan-Li Ji, Hua Wang, Ping Liu, Cheng Zhang, Ying Zhang & De-Xiang Xu

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  1. Xian-Feng Zhao
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  2. Qun Wang
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  3. Yan-Li Ji
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  4. Hua Wang
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  5. Ping Liu
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  6. Cheng Zhang
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  8. De-Xiang Xu
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Correspondence to De-Xiang Xu.

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Xian-Feng Zhao and Qun Wang contributed equally to this work.

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Zhao, XF., Wang, Q., Ji, YL. et al. Fenvalerate induces germ cell apoptosis in mouse testes through the Fas/FasL signaling pathway. Arch Toxicol 85, 1101–1108 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00204-011-0654-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00204-011-0654-9

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