title: Decreased fertility in mice exposed to environmental air pollution in the city of Sao Paulo.
abstract: It has largely been shown that air pollution can affect human health. Effects on human fertility have been shown mainly in males by a decrease in semen quality. Few studies have focused on the environmental effects on female fertility. The aim of the present study was to analyze the effects of air pollution in the city of Sao Paulo on mouse female fertility. Four groups of female Balb/c mice were placed in two chambers 10 days (newborn) or 10 weeks (adults) after birth. Mice were maintained in the chambers 24 h a day, 7 days a week, for 4 months. The first chamber received air that had passed through an air filter (clean chamber) and the second received ambient air (polluted chamber). We measured PM10 and NO2 inside both chambers. Mice belonging to the adult groups were bred to male mice after living for 3 months inside the chambers. The newborn groups mated after reaching reproductive age (12 weeks). After 19 days of pregnancy the numbers of live-born pups, reabsorptions, fetal deaths, corpora lutea, and implantation failures were determined. PM10 and NO2 concentrations in the clean chamber were 50% and 77.5% lower than in the polluted chamber, respectively. Differences in fertility parameters between groups were observed only in animals exposed to air pollution at an early age (10 days after birth). We observed a higher number of live-born pups per animal in the clean chamber than per animal from the polluted chamber (median=6.0 and 4.0, respectively; P=0.037). There was a higher incidence of implantation failures in the polluted group than in the clean group (median=3.5 and 2.0, respectively; P=0.048). There were no significant differences in the other reproductive parameters between groups. These results support the concept that female reproductive health represents a target of air pollutants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, São Paulo University, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Soraya Vecci
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Mohallem
authors.forename: Débora Jã
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: de Araújo Lobo
authors.forename: Célia Regina
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Pesquero
authors.forename: João Vicente
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Assunção
authors.forename: Paulo Afonso
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: de Andre
authors.forename: Paulo Hilário Nascimento
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Saldiva
authors.forename: Marisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dolhnikoff
mesh_terms: D000388:Air / Q000032:analysis*; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity*; D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil; D002947:Cities; D010064:Embryo Implantation / Q000187:drug effects; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005260:Female; D005327:Fetal Resorption / Q000139:chemically induced; D020567:Fetal Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D007247:Infertility, Female / Q000139:chemically induced*; D008098:Litter Size; D008297:Male; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009929:Organ Size / Q000187:drug effects; D010920:Placenta / Q000187:drug effects; D011247:Pregnancy
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants