Intrauterine exposure to 2,3′,4,4′,5-pentachlorobiphenyl alters spermatogenesis and testicular DNA methylation levels in F1 male mice

Abstract

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are synthetic biphenyl compounds with high toxicity. There are a total of 209 homologs, among which 2,3’,4,4’,5-pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB118) is one of the dioxin-like PCBs. PCB118 can accumulate in pregnant mice, leading to fetus directly exposure during development. The stage of migration of mouse primordial germ cells ranges from 8.5 to 13.5 days of pregnancy, which is the stage undergoing a genome-wide DNA demethylation process. In this study, the mice were exposed to 20 μg/kg/day and 100 μg/kg/day PCB118 from 8.5 to 13.5 days of pregnancy. During the embryo stage at 18.5 days (E18.5 days), the expression level of DNA methyltransferase 1 (Dnmt1) was reduced in the testes, and the DNA methylation level in mouse testes were also decreased. We found that the seminiferous tubules showed vacuolization and that the sperm deformity rate increased in the treated groups compared with the control group in 7-week-old mice. Because exposure to PCB118 during pregnancy causes damage to the reproductive system of male offspring mice, attention should be devoted to the toxicity transmission of persistent environmental pollutants such as PCBs.