Abstract
Many materials use polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) as flame retardants. As one of the most common congeners of PBDEs, decabromodiphenyl ether (PBDE-209) is reported to harm reproductive health. However, little is known research on attenuating the reproductive toxicity induced by PBDE-209. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of hesperidin against PBDE-209-induced reproductive toxicity in male mice. Pubertal male C57BL/6 J mice were exposed to PBDE-209 groups (20, 100, 500 mg/kg·bw) and hesperidin groups (100 mg/kg·bw PBDE-209 + 100 mg/kg·bw hesperidin) for 8 weeks. The results showed that PBDE-209 increased the amount of abnormal morphological sperms and decreased the sex hormone levels. PBDE-209 induced the histopathological lesions of seminiferous tubules and blood-testis barrier in mice testis. Expressions of apoptosis-associated proteins and mRNA (Bax, Bcl-2, etc.) were altered by the PBDE-209 treatment. PBDE-209 prominently increased the malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, the biomarker of oxidative stress. Hesperidin treatment partly alleviated PBDE-209-induced histopathological lesions and apoptosis in mice testis. These findings suggested that hesperidin partly protects against PBDE-induced reproductive toxicity in pubertal mice. We conclude that more work needs to be done to explore the appropriate dosage of hesperidin or find other drugs to protect against the reproductive toxicity of PBDEs.
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All data during this study are included in the manuscript, tables, and figures.
Abbreviations
- ATF6:
-
Activating transcription factor 6
- Bax:
-
BCL-2-associated X protein
- Bcl-2:
-
B-cell lymphoma-2
- BTB:
-
Blood-testis barrier
- ER:
-
Endoplasmic reticulum
- GSH:
-
Glutathione
- H&E:
-
Hematoxylin and eosin
- HES:
-
Hesperidin
- IHC:
-
Immunohistochemistry
- IRE1:
-
Inositol-requiring enzyme 1
- MDA:
-
Malondialdehyde
- PARP-1:
-
Poly(ADP-Ribose) polymerase-1
- PBDEs:
-
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers
- PBDE-209:
-
Decabromodiphenyl ether
- PCR:
-
Polymerase chain reaction
- TEM:
-
Transmission electron microscopy
- TUNEL:
-
Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) mediated dUTP nick end labeling
- ZO-1:
-
Zonula occludens-1
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We express our great thanks to the editor(s) and reviewers that will/have spend time to guide toward a successful publication.
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This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2017YFC1600302).
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Shiqi Li contributed to the experiments and data analysis and prepared the manuscript draft. Siyan Che and Sunni Chen performed the experiments. Zheng Ruan contributed to the manuscript’s conception, design, revision, and finalization. Li Zhang contributed to editing and supervision.
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The Animal Experiment Ethics Committee of Nanchang University (license No. SYXK (GAN) 2015–0001) approved the animal experiment.
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Highlights
1. PBDE-209 induced oxidative stress and apoptosis in mice testes.
2. PBDE-209 induced histopathologic changes in seminiferous tubules of mice.
3. PBDE-209 disrupted the blood-testis barrier integrity in mice testes.
4. Hesperidin attenuated PBDE-209-induced reproductive toxicity in mice to some extent.
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Li, S., Che, S., Chen, S. et al. Hesperidin partly ameliorates the decabromodiphenyl ether-induced reproductive toxicity in pubertal mice. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 90391–90403 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-20944-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-20944-1