Abstract
Ethylene glycol butyl ether (EGBE), a type of glycol ethers, is a common chemical used in both industrial and household products. Increasing animal studies have indicated that it produces reproductive problems, such as testicular damage, reduced female fertility, death of embryos, and birth defects. However, how it influences the female germ cells has not yet determined. Here, we found that EGBE exposure resulted in the defective porcine oocyte maturation via disruption of cytoskeleton dynamics, showing the abnormal spindle assembly, chromosome alignment, and actin organization. Meanwhile, EGBE exposure perturbed the mitochondrial distribution and function, leading to the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and generation of DNA damage and apoptosis. Of note, nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) supplementation rescued the meiotic defects caused by EGBE exposure via restoring NAD+ level and mitochondrial function and thus eliminating the excessive ROS. Taken together, our observations illustrate that NMN supplementation is an effective strategy to protect oocyte quality against environmental pollutant-induced deterioration, contributing to improve the animal and human fertility.
Highlights
The glycol ethers (GEs) consists of a class of organic solvents widely applied in the household and industrial products (Browning and Curry, 1994)
Quantification data revealed that exposure to different doses of Ethylene glycol butyl ether (EGBE) all caused a decline in the polar body extrusion (PBE) after in vitro maturation (IVM) for 44 h, and addition with 100 and 200 μM EGBE considerably lowered the rate of PBE from 67% in controls to 32 and 22%, respectively (66.7 ± 2.8%, n = 112, control vs. 32.1 ± 2.4%, n = 101, 100 μM EGBE, P < 0.001 vs. 22.3 ± 2.3%, n = 109, 200 μM EGBE, P < 0.001; Figure 1B)
1 mM nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) increased the proportion of PBE in EGBE-exposed oocytes to the level indistinguishable from the controls (67.2 ± 2.1%, n = 117, control, P < 0.001 vs. 32.7 ± 2.8%, n = 120, EGBE vs. 55.5 ± 2.1%, n = 110, 1 mM NMN, P < 0.001; Figure 1C)
Summary
The glycol ethers (GEs) consists of a class of organic solvents widely applied in the household and industrial products (Browning and Curry, 1994). The chemical industry has synthesized more than 30 different GEs (Multigner et al, 2005), and ethylene glycol monobutyl ether (EGBE), ethylene glycol monoethyl ether (EGEE), and ethylene glycol monomethyl ether (EGME) are the most widely consumed products (Fort et al, 2018). Due to their potential toxicity and widespread availability, it has attracted more attentions. The underlying mechanisms concerning how EGBE impacts the female fertility and the quality of oocytes remain largely unknown
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