Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor as a Target for Lycopene Preventing DEHP-Induced Spermatogenic Disorders

Abstract

Di­(2-ethylhexyl)­phthalate (DEHP) is widely used as a plasticizer to improve product flexibility and workability. Lycopene (LYC) is a natural compound and has promising preventive potentials, especially antireproductive toxicity, but the specific underlying mechanism is yet to be fully defined. Our study investigated the effect of LYC on DEHP-induced spermatogenesis disorders. Male ICR mice were treated with DEHP (500 or 1000 mg/kg BW/day) and/or LYC (5 mg/kg BW/day) for 28 days. Our results indicated that LYC could relieve the DEHP-induced injury of seminiferous tubules and spermatogenic cells, swelling of endoplasmic reticulum (ER), and an increase of mitochondria. LYC prevented increased levels of nuclear damage to DNA and the deformity rate and decreased values of sperm motility, number, and density. Moreover, LYC treatment decreased DEHP-induced nuclear accumulation of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) and AHR nuclear translocator (ARNT), and the expressions of their downstream target genes such as cytochrome P450-dependent monooxygenases (CYP) 1A1, 1A2, and 1B1 were markedly reduced to normal in the LYC treatment group. Our study showed that LYC can prevent DEHP-induced spermatogenic disorders via an AHR/ARNT signaling system. This study provided new evidence of AHR as a target for LYC, which can prevent DEHP-induced toxicity.

Natural Antioxidants can Improve Microplastics-Induced Male Reproductive Impairment in the African Catfish (Clarias Gariepinus)

“…Our results showed that the fish group fed with lycopene supplementation displayed few histological alterations. In agreement with our results, Zhao et al (2020) described that lycopene could alleviate the damage to seminiferous tubules and spermatogenic cells in mice. Furthermore, lycopene could recover and protect against sperm and testicular damage in rats (Tripathy et al, 2017).…”

“…Lycopene was found to strongly attenuate oxidative stress in C. gariepinus (Mahmoud et al, 2013) and Cyprinus carpio (Yonar, 2012) when provided as a dietary supplement. Moreover, lycopene represents one of the most promising antioxidants against reproductive toxicity (Zhao et al, 2020). Our results showed that the fish group fed with lycopene supplementation displayed few histological alterations.…”

“…Citric acid supplementation to fish diet was found to chelate calcium and phosphorus and increase their solubility in the rainbow trout (Pandey and Satoh, 2008), red seabream (Pagrus major) (Hossain et al, 2007), yellowtail (Seriola quinqueradiata) (Sarker et al, 2012), and turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) (Dai et al, 2018). Citric acid supplements were found to reduce oxidative damage and alleviate inflammatory responses in the turbot (S. maximus) (Chen et al, 2018;Zhao et al, 2020).…”

Lycopene inhibits IL‐1β‐induced inflammation in mouse chondrocytes and mediates murine osteoarthritis

“…Lye, a type of carotenoid, is currently a popular food ingredient. Many articles have reported that Lye can inhibit inflammation and prevent spermatogenic disorders and nephrotoxicity 17,22‐26 . Additionally, in the daily diet, a large part of Lye comes from tomatoes, watermelons, pink grapefruit and other red vegetables or fruits 38,39 .…”

A Review on Effects of Bisphenol a on Reproductive, Endocrine Systems and its Influencing Mechanism

“…It had been shown that various environmental poisons can activate AHR which is largely distributed among the cytoplasm (Barouki et al, 2012). And it has been demonstrated that AHR is essential, both physiologically and pathologically (Zhao et al, 2020). AHR was proved to regulate cyp19 expression when decrease level of ovarian estrogen (Baba et al, 2005).…”