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Chen HG, Wu P, Zheng XF, Su QL, Lin QF, Sun B, Chen YJ, Meng TQ, Xiong CL, Pan A, Wang YX, Ye W. Association of urinary and seminal plasma vanadium concentrations with semen quality: A repeated-measures study of 1135 healthy men. ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY 2024; 272:116075. [PMID: 38325273 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2024.116075] [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: 10/22/2023] [Revised: 01/31/2024] [Accepted: 02/02/2024] [Indexed: 02/09/2024]
Abstract
Although animal studies have shown the reproductive toxicity of vanadium, less is known about its effects on semen quality in humans. Among 1135 healthy men who were screened as potential semen donors, we investigated the relationships of semen quality with urinary and seminal plasma vanadium levels via inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Spearman rank correlation tests and linear regression models were used to assess the correlations between average urinary and within-individual pooled seminal plasma vanadium concentrations (n = 1135). We utilized linear mixed-effects models to evaluate the associations of urinary and seminal plasma vanadium levels (n = 1135) with repeated sperm quality parameters (n = 5576). Seminal plasma vanadium concentrations were not significantly correlated with urinary vanadium concentrations (r = 0.03). After adjusting for possible confounders, we observed inverse relationships of within-individual pooled seminal plasma vanadium levels with total count, semen volume, and sperm concentration (all P values for trend < 0.05). Specifically, subjects in the highest (vs. lowest) tertile of seminal plasma vanadium concentrations had - 11.3% (-16.4%, -5.9%), - 11.1% (-19.1%, -2.4%), and - 20.9% (-29.0%, -11.8%) lower sperm volume, concentration, and total count, respectively; moreover, urinary vanadium levels appeared to be negatively associated with sperm motility. These relationships showed monotonically decreasing dose-response patterns in the restricted cubic spline analyses. Our results demonstrated a poor correlation between urinary and seminal plasma levels of vanadium, and elevated vanadium concentrations in urine and seminal plasma may be adversely related to male semen quality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heng-Gui Chen
- Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350122, Fujian Province, China.
| | - Ping Wu
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
| | - Xiao-Feng Zheng
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China
| | - Qing-Ling Su
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China
| | - Qiao-Fen Lin
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China
| | - Bin Sun
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
| | - Ying-Jun Chen
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
| | - Tian-Qing Meng
- Center for Reproductive Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China; Hubei Province Human Sperm Bank, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
| | - Cheng-Liang Xiong
- Center for Reproductive Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China; Hubei Province Human Sperm Bank, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
| | - An Pan
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
| | - Yi-Xin Wang
- Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Weimin Ye
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China; Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 17177, Sweden.
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Hou F, Huang J, Qing F, Guo T, Ouyang S, Xie L, Ding Y, Yu J, Li Y, Liu X, He TS, Fan X, Liu Z. The rare-earth yttrium induces cell apoptosis and autophagy in the male reproductive system through ROS-Ca 2+-CamkII/Ampk axis. ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY 2023; 263:115262. [PMID: 37480693 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2023.115262] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2023] [Revised: 07/07/2023] [Accepted: 07/13/2023] [Indexed: 07/24/2023]
Abstract
China has the world's largest reserves of rare earth elements (REEs), but widespread mining and application of REEs has led to an increased risk of potential pollution. Yttrium (Y), the first heavy REEs to be discovered, poses a substantial threat to human health. Unfortunately, little attention has been given to the impact of Y on human reproductive health. In this study, we investigated the toxic effects of YCl3 on mouse testes and four types of testicular cells, including Sertoli, Leydig, spermatogonial and spermatocyte cells. The results showed that YCl3 exposure causes substantial damage to mouse testes and induces apoptosis and autophagy, but not pyroptosis or necrosis, in testicular cells. Genome-wide gene expression analysis revealed that YCl3 induced significant changes in gene expression, with Ca2+ and mitochondria-related genes being the most significantly altered. Mechanistically, YCl3 exposure induced mitochondrial dysfunction in testicular cells, triggering the overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by impairing the Nrf2 pathway, regulating downstream Ho-1 target protein expression, and increasing Ca2+ levels to activate the CamkII/Ampk signaling pathway. Blocking ROS production or Ca2+ signaling significantly attenuates apoptosis and autophagy, while supplementation with Ca2+ reverses the suppression of apoptosis and autophagy by ROS blockade in testicular cells. Notably, apoptosis and autophagy induced by YCl3 treatment are independent of each other. Thus, our study suggests that YCl3 may impair the antioxidant stress signaling pathway and activate the calcium pathway through the ROS-Ca2+ axis, which promotes testicular cell apoptosis and autophagy independently, thus inducing testicular damage and impairing male reproductive function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fangpeng Hou
- Center for Immunology, Key Laboratory of Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Diseases, Ministry of Education, Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, Jiangxi 341000, China; The First School of Clinical Medicine, Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, Jiangxi 341000, China
| | - Junyun Huang
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, First Affiliated Hospital of Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, Jiangxi 341000, China
| | - Furong Qing
- Center for Immunology, Key Laboratory of Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Diseases, Ministry of Education, Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, Jiangxi 341000, China; School of Basic Medicine, Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, Jiangxi 341000, China
| | - Tianfu Guo
- School of Basic Medicine, Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, Jiangxi 341000, China
| | - Sijia Ouyang
- School of Basic Medicine, Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, Jiangxi 341000, China
| | - Lu Xie
- School of Basic Medicine, Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, Jiangxi 341000, China
| | - Yechun Ding
- College of Pharmacy, Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, Jiangxi 341000, China
| | - Jingge Yu
- Center for Immunology, Key Laboratory of Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Diseases, Ministry of Education, Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, Jiangxi 341000, China; School of Basic Medicine, Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, Jiangxi 341000, China
| | - Yanmin Li
- Department of Urology, First Affiliated Hospital of Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, Jiangxi 341000, China
| | - Xia Liu
- College of Pharmacy, Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, Jiangxi 341000, China
| | - Tian-Sheng He
- School of Basic Medicine, Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, Jiangxi 341000, China.
| | - Xiaona Fan
- College of Pharmacy, Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, Jiangxi 341000, China.
| | - Zhiping Liu
- Center for Immunology, Key Laboratory of Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Diseases, Ministry of Education, Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, Jiangxi 341000, China; School of Basic Medicine, Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, Jiangxi 341000, China.
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