A Review on Environmental Contaminants-Related Fertility Threat in Male Fishes: Effects and Possible Mechanisms of Action Learned from Wildlife and Laboratory Studies

Animals

Mahdi Golshan¹  Sayyed Mohammad Hadi Alavi²  Sepideh Barzegar-Fallah²  Parastoo Rahdar²  Mohammad Mahdi Ahmadi²  Mina Yavari²  Otomar Linhart³  Azadeh Hatef⁴ 

[1] Iranian Fisheries Science Research Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization, Tehran P.O. Box 15745-133, Iran;School of Biology, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran P.O. Box 14155-6655, Iran;South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, 389 25 Vodňany, Czech Republic;Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5B3, Canada;

关键词: fertility endpoints;    industrial pollutants;    pesticides;    pharmaceuticals;    sperm quality;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ani11102817

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Increasing global rates of diminished fertility in males has been suggested to be associated with exposure to environmental contaminants (ECs). The aquatic environments are the final repository of ECs. As the reproductive system is conserved in vertebrates, studies on the effects of ECs on fertility endpoints in fishes provide us with valuable information to establish biomarkers in risk assessment of ECs, and to understand the ECs-related fertility threat. The aim of the present review was to evaluate associations between ECs and fertility determinants to better understand ECs-related male fertility threat in male fishes. Wildlife studies show that the reproductive system has been affected in fishes sampled from the polluted aquatic environment. The laboratory studies show the potency of ECs including natural and synthetic hormones, alkylphenols, bisphenols, plasticizers, pesticides, pharmaceutical, alkylating, and organotin agents to affect fertility determinants, resulting in diminished fertility at environmentally relevant concentrations. Both wildlife and laboratory studies reveal that ECs adverse effects on male fertility are associated with a decrease in sperm production, damage to sperm morphology, alternations in sperm genome, and decrease in sperm motility kinetics. The efficiency of ECs to affect sperm quality and male fertility highly depends on the concentration of the contaminants and the duration of exposure. Our review highlights that the number of contaminants examined over fertility tests are much lower than the number of contaminants detected in our environment. The ECs effects on fertility are largely unknown when fishes are exposed to the contaminants at early developmental stages. The review suggests the urgent need to examine ECs effects on male fertility when a fish is exposed at different developmental stages in a single or combination protocol. The ECs effects on the sperm genome are largely unknown to understand ECs-related inheritance of reproductive disorders transmitted to the progeny. To elucidate modes of action of ECs on sperm motility, it is needed to study functional morphology of the motility apparatus and to investigate ECs-disrupted motility signaling.

【 授权许可】

Unknown