ZHANG Ling-yan, WANG Su-hua, GAO Yan-rong, HOU Rui-li, MIAO Jie, MIAO Yu-sheng, LIU Dong. Toxic effects of CdTe quantum dots on sperm quality and testicular tissues in male mice[J]. Journal of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, 2018, 35(4): 303-308. DOI: 10.13213/j.cnki.jeom.2018.17668
Citation: ZHANG Ling-yan, WANG Su-hua, GAO Yan-rong, HOU Rui-li, MIAO Jie, MIAO Yu-sheng, LIU Dong. Toxic effects of CdTe quantum dots on sperm quality and testicular tissues in male mice[J]. Journal of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, 2018, 35(4): 303-308. DOI: 10.13213/j.cnki.jeom.2018.17668

Toxic effects of CdTe quantum dots on sperm quality and testicular tissues in male mice

  • Objective To investigate the effects of CdTe quantum dots (QDs) on sperm quality and testicular tissues in male mice.

    Methods A total of 32 male ICR mice were randomly divided into four groups:control group (phosphate buffer solution, pH=7.4), and low-dose (0.3 μmol/kg) (in terms of body weight, thereafter), medium-dose (0.9 μmol/kg), and high-dose (2.7 μmol/kg) groups exposed to CdTe QDs solution, with eight mice in each group. The mice were given intraperitoneal injection once every other day for three weeks. The changes of body weight, reproductive organ coefficients, sperm number, sperm abnormality rate, testicular pathology, and activities of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in testis samples were detected.

    Results There was no difference in body weight among all groups after treatment (P>0.05). The testis organ coefficient of the high-dose group was lower than that of the control group (P < 0.05). No obvious differences were found in testis weight, epididymal weight, and epididymal organ coefficient among the groups (P>0.05). The number of sperm decreased in each CdTe QDs dose group compared with the control group(3.35±0.76)×107/g (P < 0.05), and was less in the high-dose group(1.08±0.34)×107/g than in the medium-dose group(1.73±0.61)×107/g and the low-dose group(2.37±0.91)×107/g (P < 0.05). The sperm abnormality rates in the medium-dose group(13.09±3.09)% and the high-dose group(18.29±2.25)% were higher than those in the control group(4.16±0.53)% and the low-dose group(5.07±0.83)% (P < 0.008). Moreover, the sperm abnormality rate in the high-dose group increased compared with the medium-dose group (P < 0.008). The pathological examination results showed varied levels of testicular damage in different CdTe QDs dose groups. SDH activity decreased in the testis of mice treated with different CdTe QDs doses (P < 0.05); no obvious change was found in the activities of LDH and SOD (P>0.05).

    Conclusion CdTe QDs may decrease sperm quantity, increase sperm abnormality rate, cause damage to testicular tissues, and reduce SDH activity in male mice.

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