title: Apoptosis contributes to testicular toxicity induced by two isomers of bromopropanes.
abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the different testicular toxicity and the role of apoptosis in the possible mechanism induced by the two isomers of bromopropanes (BPs) in the same dosage. Following the 14-day treatment with a single dose of 1-BP and 2-BP (1 g/kg), male rats were killed and a series of experiments were performed. 1-BP and 2-BP both significantly decreased the epididymal sperm count, while only 2-BP induced an increase in sperms with abnormal heads. Morphological evaluation showed that 1-BP did not cause morphological changes in seminiferous epithelium, but 2-BP treatment resulted in the disappearance of spermatogonia, atrophy of the seminiferous tubules and degeneration of germ cells. 2-BP significantly increased the TUNEL-positive cells and the activation of caspase-3 and decreased the genes and proteins expression of Bax, Bcl-2 and p53. In contrast, there were no significant changes in the expression of apoptosis-related genes and proteins in 1-BP group, though the TUNEL-positive cells were significantly increased. Taken together, this study indicated that those two isomers both have toxicity in male rats, however, the testicular toxicity and the role of apoptosis in the toxic mechanism induced by 1-BP and 2-BP may be different.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.
authors.forename: Qian-Qian
authors.initials: QQ
authors.lastname: Xin
authors.lastname: Yong Huang
authors.lastname: Jie Li
authors.forename: Wan-Jun
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.lastname: Tao Yu
authors.lastname: Hua Wang
authors.lastname: Cheng Zhang
authors.forename: Dong-Qing
authors.initials: DQ
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.lastname: Fen Huang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000378:metabolism; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D004822:Epididymis / Q000187:drug effects; D053222:Fas Ligand Protein / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006842:Hydrocarbons, Brominated / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D007536:Isomerism; D008297:Male; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D053625:Sperm Retrieval; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D013737:Testis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D019014:fas Receptor / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D053222:Fas Ligand Protein; D006842:Hydrocarbons, Brominated; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D019014:fas Receptor; D053148:Caspase 3; C103736:2-bromopropane; C118559:1-bromopropane