UV-filter octyl methoxycinnamate causes reproductive toxicity associated with germline apoptosis and vitellogenin decrease in Caenorhabditis elegans

Abstract

Octyl methoxycinnamate (OMC) is a common UV filter found in personal care products such as sunscreen and cosmetics. However, OMC's presence in wastewater has raised concerns that it could potentially pollute aquatic ecosystems because of its limited biodegradability and its estrogenic disrupting properties. In this study, we investigated the environmental toxicity of OMC and its potential biomarkers using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Our results showed that body length, eggs in utero, and total brood size decreased with increasing dose (experimental concentrations=0, 1, 5, 10, 100, 500μM for body length and eggs in utero, and 0, 5, 10μM for total brood size) in C. elegans after L1 larval stage (the first larval stage for 0 - 12 hours post-hatching) larval stage exposure to OMC. The minimum effective concentrations were 1, 5, and 10μM, respectively. Modeling results demonstrated that the threshold concentration of OMC inducing 10% inhibited eggs in utero was 0.33μM (95.11μg/L). Furthermore, germline apoptosis was induced in 10μM OMC-treated worms (experimental concentrations=0, 5, 10μM). Decreased mRNA levels of vitellogenin-related genes (vit-2 and vit-6) and increased mRNA levels of apoptosis-related genes (egl-1 and ced-3) were observed in 10μM OMC-treated C. elegans (experimental concentrations=0, 10μM), suggesting that reproductive toxicity was associated with decreased vitellogenin levels and germline apoptosis. In summary, our study shows that OMC is reproductively toxic and leads to reduced egg formation and decreased brood size in C. elegans by reducing vitellogenin levels and promoting germline apoptosis.