文献类型： 外文期刊

作者： Wang, Ruonan ¹ ; Huang, Yuxiang ² ; Yu, Lu ¹ ; Li, Siyu ¹ ; Li, Jiayi ¹ ; Han, Biqi ¹ ; Zheng, Xiaoyan ¹ ; Zhang, Zhigang ¹ ;

作者机构： 1.Northeast Agr Univ, Coll Vet Med, 600 Changjiang Rd, Harbin 150030, Peoples R China

2.Heilongjiang Acad Agr Sci, Branch Anim Husb & Vet, Qiqihar 161000, Peoples R China

关键词： Cr(VI); Mitochondrial dynamics; Apoptosis; Autophagy; Oxidative stress; Testicular toxicity

期刊名称：CHEMICO-BIOLOGICAL INTERACTIONS （ 影响因子：5.1； 五年影响因子：4.9 ）

ISSN： 0009-2797

年卷期： 2023 年 374 卷

页码：

收录情况： SCI

摘要： Hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) is a ubiquitous environmental pollutant that can cause reproductive toxicity. However, the exact mechanism of Cr(VI)-induced testis toxicity remains largely elusive. This study aims to explore the possible molecular mechanism of Cr(VI)-provoked testicular toxicity. Male Wistar rats were intra-peritoneally injected with 0, 2, 4, or 6 mg/kg body weight/day of potassium dichromate (K2Cr2O7), respectively, for 5 weeks. The results revealed that Cr(VI)-treated rat testis presented varying degrees of damage in a dose-dependent manner. Concretely, Cr(VI) administration suppressed Sirtuin 1/Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator-1 alpha pathway and led to mitochondrial dynamics disorder, along with the elevation of mitochondrial division and the repression of mitochondrial fusion. Meanwhile, the downstream effector of Sirt1, nuclear factor-erythroid-2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), was downregulated, and correspondingly exacerbated oxida-tive stress. Mitochondrial dynamics disorder and Nrf2 inhibition collectively contribute to abnormal mito-chondrial dynamics in testis, which further promotes apoptosis and autophagy, evidenced by dose-dependently increasing the protein levels and gene expressions of apoptosis-related (including Bcl-2-associated X protein, cytochrome c, and cleaved-caspase 3) and autophagy-related (Beclin-1, ATG4B, and ATG5). Collectively, our results demonstrate that Cr(VI) exposure induced testis apoptosis and autophagy by disrupting the balance of mitochondrial dynamics and the oxidation-reduction process in rats.