Abstract
Atrazine (ATZ), as a widely used triazine herbicide, is an environmental endocrine disruptor (EDC) that can cause many health problems. Therefore, we conducted this study based on the evidence of rats and mice to figure out the characteristics of ATZ damage to the reproductive system and further evaluate its health effects on the human. PRISMA’s guidelines were followed according to the principles recommended by the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Review. Health assessment was performed using the OHAT approach. Our new data were obtained from randomized controlled trials in rats designed in accordance with toxicological guidelines. Exposure to ATZ was significantly associated with decreased testosterone production (SMD = − 0.90, 95% CI − 1.27 to − 0.53), and reduced absolute weights of testis (SMD = − 0.41, 95% CI − 0.61 to − 0.22) and other reproductive organs. The damaging effect of sperm quality was also observed clearly, which included reduction of sperm count both in epididymis (SMD = − 2.32, 95% CI − 2.83 to − 1.81) and testis (SMD = − 1.01, 95% CI − 1.37 to − 0.64), decrease in sperm motility (SMD = − 8.86, 95% CI − 10.88 to − 6.83), and increase in sperm abnormality. Subgroup analysis revealed consistency across different species, life stage, and dosage. In addition, we found that ATZ exposure at a daily dose of 120 mg/kg during adolescence could cause decrease in weight gain and histological damage to the testis. The gene expression levels of Nrf2/HO-1 and Bcl-2/caspase signaling pathways in testis tissues were changed significantly. The results of this SR indicated that exposure to ATZ was associated with impairment of male reproductive system in rodents regardless of species, exposure life stage, and dosage. It is believed that ATZ exposure may have similar effects on male reproductive system of human beings. Pathways related to oxidative stress and apoptosis may be the mechanism leading to testicular damage in rats treated with ATZ.
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The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors of this study thank all authors of the studies included in this paper for their efforts to provide information on relevant outcomes.
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This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81771640 and 81800587).
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Conceptualization, S.W. and Z.W.; methodology, S.Z.; software, T.Z. and X.Z.; formal analysis, Y.W.; investigation, S.Z. and T.Z.; resources, S.Z.; data curation, Y.W. and X.Z.; writing—original draft preparation, S.Z.; writing—review and editing, S.Z., T.Z., and Y.W.; visualization, S.W.; supervision, S.W. and Z.W.; All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
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Supplementary Figure 1
Forest plots for the effects of ATZ on rodent testis absolute weight (A) and serum testosterone concentration (B). (PDF 703 kb)
Supplementary Figure 2
Forest plots for the effects of ATZ on absolute weights of seminal vesicles (A), prostate (B), and epididymis (C). (PDF 29 kb)
Supplementary Figure 3
Forest plots for the effects of ATZ on relative weights of testis (A), epididymis (B), seminal vesicles (C), prostate (D) (PDF 552 kb)
Supplementary Figure 4
Forest plots for the effects of ATZ on live sperm ratio (A) and morphologically abnormal sperm ratio (B). (PDF 572 kb)
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Zhu, S., Zhang, T., Wang, Y. et al. Meta-analysis and experimental validation identified atrazine as a toxicant in the male reproductive system. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 37482–37497 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13396-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13396-6