|
1
|
Zhao Y, Ni S, Pei C, Sun L, Wu L, Xu A, Nie Y, Liu Y. Parental treatment with selenium protects Caenorhabditis elegans and their offspring against the reproductive toxicity of mercury. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 912:169461. [PMID: 38141982 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.169461] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2023] [Revised: 12/14/2023] [Accepted: 12/15/2023] [Indexed: 12/25/2023]
Abstract
Mercury (Hg) is one of the major pollutants in the environment, which requires effective countermeasures to manage its risk to both human health and the ecosystem. The antagonistic effect of selenium (Se) against methyl mercury (MeHg) and HgCl2 was evaluated using parent and offspring Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) in this study. Through designated acute exposure of 24 h, our results showed that both MeHg and HgCl2 induced dose-dependent reproductive toxicity, including increased germ cell apoptosis, decrease in the number of oocytes, brood size, and sperm activation. The increased germ cell apoptosis was even higher in F1 and F2 generations, but returned to control level in F3 generation. Pretreatment with Se significantly suppressed the reproductive toxicity caused by Hg in both parental worms and their offspring, but had little influence on Hg accumulation. The protective role of Se was found closely related to the chemical forms of Hg: mtl-1 and mtl-2 genes participated in reducing the toxicity of HgCl2, while the gst-4 gene was involved in the reduced toxicity of MeHg. The formation of Se-Hg complex and the antioxidant function of Se were considered as possible antagonistic mechanisms. Our data indicated that pretreatment with Se could effectively protect C. elegans and their offspring against the reproductive toxicity of Hg in different chemical forms, which provided a reference for the prevention of Hg poisoning and essential information for better understanding the detoxification potential of Se on heavy metals.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yanan Zhao
- Information Materials and Intelligent Sensing Laboratory of Anhui Province, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, PR China
| | - Shenyao Ni
- Information Materials and Intelligent Sensing Laboratory of Anhui Province, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, PR China
| | - Chengcheng Pei
- Information Materials and Intelligent Sensing Laboratory of Anhui Province, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, PR China
| | - Lingyan Sun
- Information Materials and Intelligent Sensing Laboratory of Anhui Province, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, PR China
| | - Lijun Wu
- Information Materials and Intelligent Sensing Laboratory of Anhui Province, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, PR China
| | - An Xu
- Information Materials and Intelligent Sensing Laboratory of Anhui Province, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, PR China; Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology and Pollution Control Technology; High Magnetic Field Laboratory, HFIPS, Anhui, Chinese Academy of Science, Hefei 230031, PR China
| | - Yaguang Nie
- Information Materials and Intelligent Sensing Laboratory of Anhui Province, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, PR China.
| | - Yun Liu
- Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology and Pollution Control Technology; High Magnetic Field Laboratory, HFIPS, Anhui, Chinese Academy of Science, Hefei 230031, PR China.
| |
Collapse
|