Effects of Aroclor 1254 on reproductive organ weight, sperm quality and testicular mitochondria oxidative stress of Boleophthalmus pectinirostris

Abstract

Boleophthalmus pectinirostris is an amphibious economic fish and wildly distributed in the southeast coast of China. In this study, Aroclor 1254 was intraperitoneally injected into B. pectinirostris with 1, 2 and 4 µg/(g·d) for 28 d to assay the reproductive organ weight, the sperm quality (sperm concentration and motility), and the testicular mitochondrial testicular mitochondria oxidative stress. The results show that the sperm number and motility in seminal vesicles, the absolute weight of testes and seminal vesicles of B. pectinirostris treated with 2 and 4 µg/(g·d) Aroclor 1254 decreased significantly as compared to the controls (p <0.05), while those treated with 1 µg/(g·d) Aroclor 1254 had no significant effects on these indictors. For the relative weight of reproductive organs, significant reduction (p <0.05) was only observed in the seminal vesicles of B. pectinirostris treated with 4 µg/(g·d). SOD activities and GSH levels in all the Aroclor 1254 treatments were significantly lower than those of the controls (p <0.05). The activities of CAT, GPx, GR and the levels of Vit C also decreased significantly in comparison with the controls (p <0.05) at the higher dose of 2 and 4 µg/(g·d) Aroclor 1254 treatments. In addition, both H2O2 level and MDA content in testicular mitochondria of B. pectinirostris had a close correlation with Aroclor 1254 dosage, and were significantly higher than the controls (p <0.05). Those indicate that Aroclor 1254 can induce the oxidative stress of testicular mitochondria, and impair the reproductive function of male B. pectinirostris.