The effects of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) on fetal and adult rat testis




Anna Eggert, Sheyla Cisneros-Montalvo, Sathyavathy Anandan, Stefania Musilli, Jan-Bernd Stukenborg, Annika Adamsson, Mirja Nurmio, Jorma Toppari

PublisherElsevier Inc.

2019

Reproductive Toxicology

Reproductive Toxicology

90

68

76

9

0890-6238

1873-1708

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.reprotox.2019.08.005(external)

https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/42832132(external)



Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is a widely dispersed synthetic chemical, which accumulates in living organisms and has been connected with male reproductive disorders. To monitor the effects of PFOA, fetal rat testes or seminiferous tubule segments (stage VII-VIII) of adult rats were cultured in 0–100 μg/ml PFOA for 24 h. Afterwards, cAMP, progesterone, testosterone and StAR protein levels were measured from the fetal testes culture. Measurements were combined with immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, TUNEL and flow cytometric analysis to monitor cell death in somatic and germ cells. This study shows that the levels of cAMP, progesterone, testosterone and expression of StAR decreased significantly in PFOA 50 and 100 μg/ml. PFOA affected cell populations significantly by decreasing the amount of diploid, proliferating, meiotic I and G2/M-phase cells in adult rat testis. However, PFOA did not affect fetal, proliferating or adult rat Sertoli cells but an increased tendency of apoptosis in fetal Leydig cells was observed.


Last updated on 2024-26-11 at 20:52