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Lead chloride affects sperm motility and acrosome reaction in mice

Lead affects mice sperm motility and acrosome reaction

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Abstract

Lead is highly toxic and persistent in the environment and, thus, a major concern for public health. In this study, the effects of lead chloride (PbCl2) on mouse epididymal sperm were evaluated. Male mice were subcutaneously injected with 74 and 100 mg PbCl2/kg body weight for four consecutive days. Sperm was collected from the epididymis and several parameters of sperm function, such as sperm density, motility, viability, mitochondrial function, acrosome integrity and morphology, were evaluated. Furthermore, DNA fragmentation was assessed by the terminal deoxylnucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate (dUTP) nick-end labelling (TUNEL) assay and chromatin integrity was evaluated by sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA). In order to assess direct effects on existing sperm population, we sacrificed one group for each condition at day 5. The effects of lead upon one entire spermatogenic cycle were evaluated on day 35. Both lead concentrations used in this work affected sperm motility, although no significant differences were observed in sperm viability, mitochondrial function and DNA/chromatin integrity. However, a decrease in the percentage of intact acrosomes was also observed, mirroring a lead-induced premature acrosome reaction. Thus, the results obtained indicate that, together with impaired motility, the effect of lead toxicity on acrosome integrity, leading to premature reaction, may compromise the ability of sperm to fertilize the oocyte.

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Abbreviations

AO:

Acridine orange

BSA:

Bovine serum albumin

bw:

Body weight

DFI:

DNA fragmentation index

DMSO:

Dimethyl sulphoxide

EDTA:

Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

FCM:

Flow cytometry

FITC:

Fluorescein isothiocyanate

FS:

Forward scatter

HEPES:

4-(2-Hydroxyethyl)piperazine-1-ethanesulphonic acid

i.p.:

Intraperitoneal

MT6:

Modified Tyrode’s medium

PBS:

Phosphate-buffered saline

PI:

Propidium iodide

Rh123:

Rhodamine 123

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

s.c.:

Subcutaneous

SCSA:

Sperm chromatin structure assay

SS:

Side scatter

TUNEL:

Terminal deoxylnucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate (dUTP) nick-end labelling

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank to Dr. Susana Santos (Sir James Black Centre, University of Dundee) for revising the language of this manuscript. This work was supported by the Research Institute of the University of Aveiro (project CTS/22) and CICECO. Helena Oliveira was supported by two fellowships [Research Institute of the University of Aveiro (Project CTS/22) and Ph.D. fellowship by University of Aveiro].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, CICECO, University of Aveiro, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal

    Helena Oliveira & Maria de Lourdes Pereira

  2. Section of Toxicology and Biomedical Sciences, BAS-BIOTEC-MED, ENEA Casaccia Research Centre, 00123, Rome, Italy

    Marcello Spanò

  3. Department of Biology, CESAM, University of Aveiro, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal

    Conceição Santos

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  1. Helena Oliveira
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  2. Marcello Spanò
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  3. Conceição Santos
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  4. Maria de Lourdes Pereira
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Correspondence to Helena Oliveira.

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Oliveira, H., Spanò, M., Santos, C. et al. Lead chloride affects sperm motility and acrosome reaction in mice. Cell Biol Toxicol 25, 341–353 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10565-008-9088-4

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