Environmental pollutants exposure and male reproductive toxicity: The role of epigenetic modifications

Han, Xuejingping; Huang, Qingyu

doi:10.1016/j.tox.2021.152780

Cited by 31 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 142 publications

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“…Existing evidence has suggested that PFOA exposure at relatively high doses inhibits steroid hormone biosynthesis, while the effects of low-level PFOA on steroidogenesis remain little explored. As a bridge linking environmental pollutant exposure with health outcomes, epigenetic modification has become a hot research topic in recent years . To date, however, there is still rare evidence addressing the relationship between histone modification and PFAS-induced steroidogenic changes .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low Levels of Perfluorooctanoic Acid Exposure Activates Steroid Hormone Biosynthesis through Repressing Histone Methylation in Rats

Han

Alam

Cao

et al. 2022

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is a persistent organic pollutant, which has endocrine-disrupting properties and can interfere with the synthesis and secretion of testicular steroid hormones, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are still not fully understood. In this study, we investigated the effects of low doses of PFOA exposure on testicular steroidogenesis in rats and revealed the role of histone modifications. It was found that the serum levels of progesterone, testosterone, and estradiol were significantly increased after 0.015 and 0.15 mg/kg of PFOA exposure, and the expression of Star, a key rate-limiting gene, was up-regulated, while other steroidogenic genes Cyp11a1, Hsd3b, Cyp17a1, and Hsd17b were down-regulated. In addition, the levels of multiple histone modifications (H3K9me1/2/3 and H3K9/18/ 23ac) were all significantly reduced by PFOA in rat testis. Histone H3K9 methylation is associated with gene silencing, while histone acetylation leads to gene activation. ChIP analysis further showed that H3K9me1/3 was significantly decreased in the promoter region of Star, while H3K18ac levels were down-regulated in other gene promoters. Accordingly, we suggest that low-level PFOA enhances StAR expression through the repression of H3K9me1/3, which stimulates steroid hormone production in rat testis. These results are expected to shed new light on the molecular mechanisms by which low-dose PFOA disturbs male reproductive endocrine from an epigenetic aspect and may be useful for human health risk assessment regarding environmental PFOA exposure.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low Levels of Perfluorooctanoic Acid Exposure Activates Steroid Hormone Biosynthesis through Repressing Histone Methylation in Rats

Han

Alam

Cao

et al. 2022

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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“…Studies on (epi)genomics, lipidomics, plant systems, and cell cultures were omitted from the analyses. Developments in these fields have been reviewed elsewhere [27][28][29][30][31][32][33]. Genomics studies in Evolutionary Toxicology that e.g., determine changes in allelic or genotypic frequencies caused by increased mutation rates are also covered elsewhere [34][35][36][37][38][39].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trends in the Application of “Omics” to Ecotoxicology and Stress Ecology

Ebner

2021

Genes

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Our ability to predict and assess how environmental changes such as pollution and climate change affect components of the Earth’s biome is of paramount importance. This need positioned the fields of ecotoxicology and stress ecology at the center of environmental monitoring efforts. Advances in these interdisciplinary fields depend not only on conceptual leaps but also on technological advances and data integration. High-throughput “omics” technologies enabled the measurement of molecular changes at virtually all levels of an organism’s biological organization and thus continue to influence how the impacts of stressors are understood. This bibliometric review describes literature trends (2000–2020) that indicate that more different stressors than species are studied each year but that only a few stressors have been studied in more than two phyla. At the same time, the molecular responses of a diverse set of non-model species have been investigated, but cross-species comparisons are still rare. While transcriptomics studies dominated until 2016, a shift towards proteomics and multiomics studies is apparent. There is now a wealth of data at functional omics levels from many phylogenetically diverse species. This review, therefore, addresses the question of how to integrate omics information across species.

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“…Male infertility, a prevalent condition afflicting 15% of couples globally, remains undoubtedly a burdensome health problem demanding specific answers [3,86]. OS has been shown to be highly implicated in its pathogenesis, with elevated ROS levels inducing sperm dysfunction [19,87]. Motility, morphology, total count, and viability alterations are among the most significant repercussions of OS on sperm's structural and functional integrity.…”

Section: Conclusion Future Directions and Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hand-searched/Reference list checked 29 [9,10,27,28,31,34,42,47,[49][50][51][52][53][54][55][58][59][60][61][63][64][65][66][67]69,70,81,82,87]…”

Section: Conflicts Of Interestmentioning

confidence: 99%

Redox Balance in Male Infertility: Excellence through Moderation—“Μέτρον ἄριστον”

Symeonidis

Evgeni²,

Palapelas

et al. 2021

Antioxidants

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Male infertility, a relatively common and multifactorial medical condition, affects approximately 15% of couples globally. Based on WHO estimates, a staggering 190 million people struggle with this health condition, and male factor is the sole or contributing factor in roughly 20–50% of these cases. Nowadays, urologists are confronted with a wide spectrum of conditions ranging from the typical infertile male to more complex cases of either unexplained or idiopathic male infertility, requiring a specific patient-tailored diagnostic approach and management. Strikingly enough, no identifiable cause in routine workup can be found in 30% to 50% of infertile males. The medical term male oxidative stress infertility (MOSI) was recently coined to describe infertile men with abnormal sperm parameters and oxidative stress (OS), including those previously classified as having idiopathic infertility. OS is a critical component of male infertility, entailing an imbalance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidants. ROS abundance has been implicated in sperm abnormalities, while the exact impact on fertilization and pregnancy has long been a subject of considerable debate. In an attempt to counteract the deleterious effects of OS, urologists resorted to antioxidant supplementation. Mounting evidence indicates that indiscriminate consumption of antioxidants has led in some cases to sperm cell damage through a reductive-stress-induced state. The “antioxidant paradox”, one of the biggest andrological challenges, remains a lurking danger that needs to be carefully avoided and thoroughly investigated. For that reason, oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) emerged as a viable ancillary tool to basic semen analysis, measuring the overall balance between oxidants and antioxidants (reductants). A novel biomarker, the Male infertility Oxidative System (MiOXSYS®), is a paradigm shift towards that goal, offering a quantification of OS via a quick, reliable, and reproducible measurement of the ORP. Moderation or “Μέτρον” according to the ancient Greeks is the key to successfully safeguarding redox balance, with MiOXSYS® earnestly claiming its position as a guarantor of homeostasis in the intracellular redox milieu. In the present paper, we aim to offer a narrative summary of evidence relevant to redox regulation in male reproduction, analyze the impact of OS and reductive stress on sperm function, and shed light on the “antioxidant paradox” phenomenon. Finally, we examine the most up-to-date scientific literature regarding ORP and its measurement by the recently developed MiOXSYS® assay.

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Environmental pollutants exposure and male reproductive toxicity: The role of epigenetic modifications

Cited by 31 publications

References 142 publications

Low Levels of Perfluorooctanoic Acid Exposure Activates Steroid Hormone Biosynthesis through Repressing Histone Methylation in Rats

Low Levels of Perfluorooctanoic Acid Exposure Activates Steroid Hormone Biosynthesis through Repressing Histone Methylation in Rats

Trends in the Application of “Omics” to Ecotoxicology and Stress Ecology

Redox Balance in Male Infertility: Excellence through Moderation—“Μέτρον ἄριστον”

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