Abstract
Hexachlorobenzene (HCB), a widespread environmental pollutant, contributes to endocrine disruption resulting in hypothyroidism. We investigated the effect of chronic exposure of HCB to explore the functional interconnection between hypothyroidism and infertility. All observations were made through the F1 and F2 generations. Thyroidectomy was also performed to evaluate the contribution of the thyroid gland in affecting ovarian dysfunction and reproductive aberrations. We confirmed that the preconception exposure of HCB leads to hypothyroidism which was reflected by an increase in the body weight, alteration in the thyroid hormones, and alteration of the lipid profile. Hypothyroid female rats exhibited a poor reproductive profile with altered steroidogenic pathways, altered estrus cyclicity, reduced litter size, and stunted growth. The external supplementation of thyroxine in thyroidectomized animals rescues the reproductive aberrations confirming the protective role of the thyroid gland in reproductive biology. All results highlight the jeopardizing functional connection of the thyroid and ovary due to HCB, leading to serious consequences on upcoming generations.
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The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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This work was supported by the M.S. University educational research fund.
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HD acquired and analyzed data for experiments on F0 and F1 generations and thyroidectomy experiments and wrote the manuscript; HP helped in analyzing the data; TM helped in managing animal house schedules; RS performed experiments on F2 generation; LK and HM were Master’s students in the laboratory who helped with standardizing dose of HCB treatment; SM helped in organizing the data; and PR conceptualized the project and planned the overall experiments and carefully revised and edited the manuscript.
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Charles foster female albino rats were housed in controlled room temperature (25 ± 1 C), relative humidity (45.5%), and light (photoperiod cycle of 12 h light/12 dark) with food and free access of water as per recommended by the Committee For The Purpose of Control And Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA) guidelines of Animal Ethical Committee of Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, India (Reg. No. 938/A/06/CPCSEA).
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Dhaibar, H.A., Patadia, H., Mansuri, T. et al. Hexachlorobenzene, a pollutant in hypothyroidism and reproductive aberrations: a perceptive transgenerational study. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 11077–11089 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11278-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11278-x