Abstract
Exposure to inorganic arsenic is a notable health issue featuring several incidents of female reproductive dysfunctions. This study was designed to explore the extent of damages of sodium arsenite on female reproductive system of rats. Forty adult Wistar nulliparous rats having 3 months of age were grouped into four where the treated groups (Gr II, III, and IV) were gavaged with sodium arsenite (1, 3, and 5 mg/kg/day, respectively) for 30 consecutive days and a vehicle-fed group (Gr I) served as control. The treatment resulted in decrease of body weight (Gr III and IV) and weight of ovary and uterus (Gr II, III, and IV). Marked decrease of the pre-antrum, antral, and Graafian follicle pools with concomitant enhancement of follicular atresia (Gr III and IV) was noted but primordial and primary follicle pools remained unaltered. Compromised antioxidant defense in both the tissues was noted by altered enzymatic and non-enzymatic markers. The toxicity also resulted in the reduction of serum estradiol, LH, FSH and prolonged diestrus index. Alterations of uterine histoarchitecture with marked presence of shrunken endometrial glands, apoptotic bodies in the epithelium, and degenerated perimetrium were also noted. Elevated oxidative stress was further documented by increased presence of ROS in both the tissues. The subchronic exposure of sodium arsenite at higher doses caused progressive damages of folliculogenesis and uterine degeneration. This study demonstrates that the reproductive system of female rats is a target to sodium arsenite–induced ROS generation at higher doses.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge Dr. Souryadeep Mukherjee, Department of Life Sciences, Presidency University, and Dr. Sumit Mandal, Department of Life Sciences, Presidency University, for their help.
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This work is mainly supported by the grant received from the Department of Higher Education, Science & Technology and Biotechnology, Government of West Bengal (Memo No. 265(Sanc.) / ST/ P/ S&T/1G-44/2017 dated 25.03.2018). Apart from this, the authors also would like to acknowledge the DST-FIST grant of the Government of India and FRPDF grant of Presidency University.
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Conceived and designed the experiments: RM, AM, AC, AB, and PKM. Performed the experiments: RM. Analyzed the data: RM, AM, AC, AB, and PKM. Wrote the paper: RM. Overall manuscript checked: RM, AC, AB, AM, and PKM. Manuscript critically checked: RM, PKM. Final approval was given by all the authors.
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The experiments were performed following the national guidelines implemented by the Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals, India, with approval from the Animal Ethics Committee of Presidency University (Sanction number: PU/IAEC/PM/12).
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Mondal, R., Mukhopadhyay, A., Chattopadhyay, A. et al. Ovarian follicular atresia and uterine toxicity after subchronic oral exposure of postpubertal rats to sodium arsenite. Comp Clin Pathol 31, 597–612 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00580-022-03358-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00580-022-03358-w