Long-term treatment with MWCNT impair sperm motility in mice: involvment of oxidative stress

Background: Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been using extensively in medicine and industry. So, toxicity and risk assessment studies of these compounds are becoming increasingly important. Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are the most wide investigated types of CNTs in nanotoxicology. Because of the vulnerability of the human male reproductive system to exogenous materials and the pivotal role of oxidative stress in reproductive toxicity, the present study was designed to investigate the testicular toxicity of long-term treatment with MWCNTs in mice and evaluating the oxidative stress.Methods: Adult male albino mice received 0.4 mg/ml carboxylated CNT (COOH-MWCNTs) intravenously once a week for 3 and 6 weeks (3 and 6 doses, respectively). Testicular toxicity was evaluated using counting motile and immotile sperms. Lipid peroxidation was evaluated in the testicular tissue homogenate by using thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) formation. Meanwhile, mice were weighed regularly and assessed for behavioral changes. Result: The motile sperms were significantly decreased in the mice received 6 doses of CNTs. Lipid peroxidation insignificantly and dose-dependently increased in the testicular tissues. No significant changes in the weight and behavior of COOH-MWCNTs treated mice were observed.Conclusion: Lon-term exposure to COOH-MWCNTs may cause testicular toxicity through induction of oxidative stress.

کلیدواژه ها:

Mice ، Oxidative stress ، Spermatogenesis ، Multi-walled carbon nanotube