Contaminants Research Articles

Analysis of Microbial Contaminants and Microbial Changes during Dried-laver Pyropia spp. Processing

Analysis of Microbial Contaminants and Microbial Changes during Dried-laver Pyropia spp. Processing

Pharmacogenetics, tobacco, alcohol and its effect on the risk development cancer

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the world, causing 8.8 million deaths in 2015 according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Risk factors for cancer include smoking and alcohol con sumption. In Chile, 33.6% of the population and 21.2% of young people smokes. Alcohol consump tion in the Chilean population is 74.5% and 12.2% in young people. Among the physiological factors that influence the development of cancer, the genetic factor plays a relevant role. It has been shown that the presence of genetic polymorphisms that alter the ability of the body to eliminate contami nants increase the risk of developing cancer. The same applies to polymorphisms that prevent DNA repair due to damage caused by environmental pollutants such as cigarette smoke. The objective of this review is to analyze the state of the art of the relationship between pharmacogenetics, smoking, and alcohol consumption as risk factors for the development of cancer. In conclusion, the results suggest that the presence of polymorphisms that alter the function of biotransformation enzymes phase I (CYP1A1, CYP1E1) and phase II (GST), as well as polymorphisms in DNA repair enzymes (ERCC1 / ERCC2), increase the risk of cancer induced by smoking and alcohol consumption. This association is important considering that smoking and drinking alcohol are highly prevalent among the Chilean population.

Exosomes in bile as potential pancreatobiliary tumor biomarkers

Alterations in bile secretion and its composition results in different pancreatobiliary alterations such as cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), gallbladder cancer (GBC) among others, which are usually detected in late stages and associated with discouraging rates of survival. Given the challenges of clinical detection of the biliary tract abnormalities, the search for biomarkers for detection, prevention and management of bile tract pathology is of the utmost importance. Current blood based biomarkers have low sensitivity and specificity; therefore, new alternatives must be identified and validated, principally in fluids that are in direct contact with the affected tissues such as bile. Molecules in contact with the site of the lesion have proven potentially diagnostic for biliary tract tumors and allow the discrimination of different pathologies and its stages. However, the acquisition of these molecules has some technical drawbacks, and poses obstacles that are hard to overcome during the implementation of these techniques in a clinical setting. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) such as exosomes have been suggested as messengers between distant cells and are representative of their tissues of origin. It has been shown that tumor derived exosomes carry nucleic acids and oncogenic proteins, that contribute to the microenvironment necessary for tumor progression. Accordingly, tumor derived exosomes have been the focus of research to identify potential screening biomarkers and therapeutic targets, since they don’t require invasive procedures and carry not only useful information but also protect their material from extracellular enzymes and contaminants, improving molecular detection. These EVs haven’t been well characterized in biliary tract cancers as its study is very recent. Nonetheless, a few studies have highlighted the role of exosomes as facilitators of these cancers’ progression. The relationship between the presence and secretion of exosomes with altered expression of different molecules with diagnostic potential has been pointed out in recent studies, both in malignant diseases and benign conditions like inflammatory abnormalities. Since biliary tract pathologies are not easily detected and are often uncovered in advanced stages, overcoming the gap between basic and clinical research to identify and validate different candidate biomarkers that are present in exosomes is a decisive goal that requires large-scale multicenter studies and standardization of isolation, purification and characterization techniques.

Effects of heavy metal: copper on the ultrastructure of wheat

Copper was one of common soil contaminants in China. In order to research the stress mechanism of copper to wheat, the structure of subcellular in mesophyll cell were studied at different copper concentration and growth stage in natural conditions. The results showed that 1) at the tillering stage, under the level of L4 (900 mg/kg), comparing to the control, the cell structures were not intact. The number of chloroplast increased. The volume of chloroplast was enlarged. The arrangement of the thylakoids was disorder. 2) At the jointing stage, the membrane of chloroplast under concentrations of copper (L4) ruptured, and thylakoid spilled from chloroplast. 3) at the booting stage, the membrane of chloroplast under concentrations of L4 (900 mg/kg) broke and thylakoid spilled. The number of mitochondrion increased. 4) At the mature stage, some chloroplast disappeared under the concentration of L1 (100 mg/kg). The volume of chloroplast of became lager than it in control. The number of mitochondrion increased. Most chloroplasts under the level of L3 (600 mg/kg) disappeared, the number of mitochondrion increased and the cell wall was damaged. At the level of L4 (900 mg/kg), most organelles disappeared. In a word, the chloroplast in mesophyll cells of wheat was the most sensitive organelle under the condition of copper stress. The copper concentration and the developmental stage of wheat affected the damaged degree of subcellular structure of mesophyll cells. The organelle rupture in mesophyll cells caused by heavy metal was a key factor that led to the death of wheat.

Adsorption of Caffeine on Activated Carbon Obtained from Green Coconut Waste

In this study activated carbon was produced using green coconut shell as the carbon source. Furthermore, caffeine adsorption behavior in the produced material was studied, as a function of temperature, through the adsorption isotherms and their thermodynamic parameters. For this, the green coconut shell powder was subjected to the activation process, involving impregnation with phosphoric acid solution followed by pyrolysis in a muffle furnace. The adsorption experiments at four temperatures, 25, 35, 45 and 55°C, were studied with five aqueous solutions of different caffeine concentrations maintaining the same agitation rate (150 rpm). Langmuir and Freundlich equations were employed for thermodynamic equilibrium, the data adjusting better to the Langmuir model. The thermodynamic parameters such as entropy change, enthalpy change and Gibbs free energy variation were calculated from the linear equation of the Van’t Hoff. The results showed that caffeine adsorption in the activated carbon is a spontaneous and exothermic process, and the amount of caffeine adsorbed increases according to the concentration at a constant temperature, reaching values close to 170 mg g-1. The results demonstrated the potential of green coconut waste material as feedstock to obtain activated carbon, as well as for the treatment of wastewater containing emerging contaminants.

Canonical and selective approaches in exosome purification and their implications for diagnostic accuracy

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) play a pivotal role in cell to cell signalling in both physiological and pathological conditions. Based on their biogenesis, three main classes of EVs are recognized: exosomes, microvesicles and apoptotic bodies. Exosomes are cell-derived vesicles (EVs) present in many body fluids (blood, urine, milk, cerebrospinal fluid) ranging in size from 30 to 150 nm. Due to their involvement in numerous physiological and pathological events, cell derived exosomes in bodily fluids represent a unique source of clinically relevant and non-invasive biomarkers. Since biomolecule content present in exosomes reflects the state of the parent cell, exosome analysis and characterization may provide valuable information about the presence of aberrant processes in the cells from which they originated. Because of the large and heterogeneous scientific community working with exosomes, several purification strategies have been applied so far, which yield EV fractions largely differing for quantity and quality. Most of the present exosome isolation approaches based on ultracentrifugation (UC), ultrafiltration (UF) or precipitation, are inefficient and hard to standardize, thereby creating low reproducibility in sample quality and potentially misleading results because highly sensitivity downstream analytical techniques, such as mass spectrometry, can detect even minute traces of co-isolated contaminants. Furthermore, loss of certain exosomal fractions during purification process or damage of exosomal membrane integrity can also alter final protein and RNA profiles. As a consequence, there is a strong interest in consensus principles for the exosome purification and the search for reliable methods for selective isolation of EV sub-populations. In the present manuscript, we critically overview the most commonly used techniques used for exosome preparation such as ultra-centrifugation, size-based isolation methods, precipitation and immunoaffinity (IA) and their respective applicability for purification of exosomes from clinically relevant samples.

Organic Contaminants in the Pearl River Delta, South China:Environmental Behavior and Human Exposure

Organic Contaminants in the Pearl River Delta, South China:Environmental Behavior and Human Exposure

Quality control of trunk’s barks of Lannea microcarpa Engl. and K. Krause and Anogeissus leiocarpus (DC) Guill. & Perr. for the manufacture of phytomedicines for the treatment of hypertension

Lannea microcarpa (Anacardiaceae) and Anogeissus leiocarpus (Combretaceae) are two plants used in the traditional medicine for the treatment of hypertension in Burkina Faso. Previous preclinical studies have demonstrated their efficacy and safety. This study aimed to investigate the quality of trunk barks powder of two plants. The physico-chemical characteristics (macroscopic, organoleptic, water content, ash, heavy metals and pesticides), microbial cleanliness and phytochemical analysis were determined by the methods of the European Pharmacopoeia and / or International standards. The powder of Anogeissus leiocarpus trunk's bark was brown with astringent and slightly sweet taste while Lennea microcarpa was reddish with a slightly bitter taste. The microbiological parameters (total viable germs, specific microorganisms) and contaminants (heavy metals, pesticides, siliceous substances, etc.) complied with the recommendations of the European pharmacopoeia and ISO 7218 standards. The results of physico-chemical and pharmacotechnical parameters allowed recognition of plant powders and checking of purity level / the degree of cleanliness. Analysis using chromatography of thin layer established the chromatographical print of powders. These parameters shown the quality of powders and can be used as quality control parameters for plant powders when used for the production of herbal medicines.

Effect of a New Remediated Substrate on Fruit Quality and Bioactive Compounds in Two Strawberry Cultivars

The dredging materials extracted from seaports, considered as contaminants, can be a problem at the time of removal from the environmental point of view. Currently, there is a progressive exhaustion of peatland; and therefore, a substitute for peat mass as a growing substrate is required. These reasons make it a priority to seek solutions in both directions. For this reason has been want to show the suitability of dredged sediment, after being bioremediated for 3 years, as a new substrate in agriculture. Thus, were studied the behavior of dredged remediated sediments on fruit quality and bioactive compounds of two strawberry cultivars “Camarosa” and “Monterrey”. The strawberries were grown on three substrate-based treatments: peat 100%, sediment 100% and 50% both (mixture). Fresh weight, firmness, soluble solids content, titratable acidity, maturity index, sugars, sweetness index, acids, vitamin C, sugars-acids ratio, antioxidant activity and total phenol content were determined for each treatment. The results indicated that no significant differences were established on fruit quality within different treatments. The strawberries grown under dredged remediated sediment (DRS) and Peat-DRS substrate (mixture 50%) showed a high content in vitamin C, total phenols and antioxidant activity, also had the highest sweetness index and a good firmness. The present study has shown that the used of DRS as a growing substrate for strawberries are a valid alternative to satisfy the progressive shortage of the traditional substrates and should be further investigated in order to modify European legislation on growing substrates for agricultural uses.

CHLORIDE REMOVAL FROM LANDFILL LEACHATE BY THE ULTRA-HIGH LIME WITH ALUMINUM PROCESS

Besides organic contaminants, nutrients and heavy metals, high concentrations of chloride have also been observed in landfills accepting ash deposition from waste-to-energy applications, which is difficult be removed in wastewater treatment processes. Chloride may percolate and cause surface salt formation and soil alkalinity increase, thereby resulting in loss of soil. In plants, chloride tends to accumulate in the tissues, especially the leaves. Conventional removal techniques are not feasible from the cost perspective. In this research, the ultra-high lime with aluminum process was evaluated for chloride removal from landfill leachate by precipitation as calcium chloroaluminate (Ca4Al2Cl2(OH)12) in the presence of calcium and aluminum at high pH. Chloride removal was found to be a function of both aluminum concentration and pH. Chloride removal increased with the increase of alum addition until 20 mg/L, after which the chloride removal became moderate. With the increase of pH, obviously more chloride was removed. At pH of 10, the removal reached 90%. To save the chemical costs, alum sludge from a drinking water treatment plant was tested for the removal of chloride from the landfill leachate. The results showed that the supernatant of the alum sludge was more efficient than that of alum sludge suspension in chloride removal. The usage of alum sludge can dramatically save the chemical costs.

Contaminant Removal Mechanisms in Microwave Heating Remediation of PAH-Contaminated Soils

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contamination represents a very relevant environmental problem worldwide. Due to PAH persistence, bioaccumulation and mutagenic effects on human health, restoration techniques for PAH - contaminated soils have recently attracted particular attention. Several chemical-physical treatments have been proposed for this purpose; however, they may often be expensive or require combined-multi-step processes. On the other hand, thermal treatments were shown to be more effective, but generally requiring high fuel costs. Recently, microwave heating (MWH) has been proposed as a cost - effective thermal treatment. The main goal of this study was to assess the potential application a microwave heating (MWH) treatment of soils contaminated with PAHs, investigating the effects of various operating conditions on contaminant removal kinetics and mechanisms. A sandy soil was artificially contaminated with PAHs and irradiated for a period of 5 – 60 min, applying powers in the range of 250 - 1000 W. Main results suggest that PAH polarity features, significantly influence the maximum temperature achievable during the MWH and the contaminant removals. Specifically, total removal was achievable only for biphenyl and fluorene, while concentrations lower than 2 mg kg-1 were found for anthracene and phenanthrene. Several mechanisms, namely, thermal desorption, molecular bond breaking, selective heating and contaminant stripping took place during PAH removal. Observed mechanisms could provide basic information and be helpful in order to improve the development of novel MW based - remediation technologies.

A Mathematical Model for Techno-Economic Evaluation of Industrial Wastewater Sludge to Resources

Wastewater has typically been regarded as an environmental problem and a source of health hazard. Converting wastewater into value-added products such as energy production, and various products recovery have become more attractive. Industrial wastewater sludge has become viable resource of many products such as fertilisers, soil conditioner and artificial aggregate or cement-like materials. The objective of this study is to develop a model to select the appropriate wastewater treatment units that could maximise resources recovery via a simple and cost effective technology while complying the environmental discharge limit. A superstructure of potential treatment technologies is proposed in this work. Ideal networks that consist of interconnections between few treatment technologies to remove contaminants and recover valuable products are obtained by maximising the Net Present Value (NPV) for the plant. The model recommends the connection between anaerobic digester (AD), sludge pump (SP) and bio solid utilisation (BS) to reduce the final concentration in the effluent and at the same time generate the maximum amount of bio solid (soil conditioner) for agricultural purposes. Results of the proposed network yields an optimal network selected by the model that gives a positive NPV of USD 4,035, 506.

Infrastructural Facilities Development And Urban Decay In Owo City

This paper examined the decay of urban infrastructure with particular reference to Owo city in Ondo State, Nigeria. The methodology applied depends on survey of questionnaires with the use of systematic random sampling of one in every five houses in Ehinogbe, Ijebu, Iselu and Otutu with fifty (50) questionnaires assigned to each area and the total questionnaires distributed were two hundreds (200). Other methods used were interview and observation. The data collected revealed that there was an upsurge in population which had a multiplier effects on some factors that caused the absurdity that resulted to urban decay of infrastructure in Owo. The tenancy rate of majority of the houses was high and most of them were built with mud more than sixty years ago. Pit latrines became the dominating toilets in houses and well water was the main source of water which was not safe for drinking as it contained contaminants. There was frequent out- break of electricity and waste collection was rarely practised while open and incinerator burning that caused pollution became a common phenomenon. It was recommended that one of the methods to tackle decay could be through periodic population statistics for infrastructure planning and development while dug wells should be well-treated, inspected and supervised by government agencies. The paper concluded that if urban cities are well-coordinated with vibrant law, define policies and prudent administrators, infrastructure development would be sustained. Key Words: Infrastructure, urban, city Development, decay, population.

Cachaça quality assessment produced in north Mato Grosso

The increased consumption of cachaca and the possibility of exportation are increasingly requiring that producers seek to improvement the quality of the drink. Cachaca is defined as a typical and exclusive name for brandy forsugar cane produced in Brazil, with alcoholic graduation of 38-48% by volume at 20 o C, with peculiar sensory characteristics. A good cachaca must have in its composition and minimum values of contaminants and congeners limited values established by legislation to ensure minimum standards of beverage quality (color, aroma, flavor). The objective of this study was to evaluate the physical and chemical quality of cachaca produced in northern Mato Grosso. We collected five samples of cachaca in the region, and then these were evaluated parameters for total acidity, fixed acidity and volatile acidity, total esters, solids, copper and level alcohol according to standards of the Instituto Adolfo Lutz . The data were submitted to analysis of variance and the means compared by tukey test at 5% probability. Of cachacas analyzed, 4 had results outside the standard set by legislation, where cachaca C showed valuesof 329.07 and 902.70 mg/100 mL of anhydrous alcohol for the parameter of volatile acid and esters respectively. The cachacas D, B and E showed values of total esters of 452.30, 258.66 and 243.16 mg/100mL anhydrous alcohol respectively. For level of copper rum E showed values above the permitted with 57.08 mg / L of sample and dry extract of 0.1309 g / mL. As the level of alcoool, only cachaca D showed alcohol level below the limit minimum.

A Rare Case of Community Acquired Cavitary Lung Disease Caused by Group F Streptococcus

Many organisms previously considered non-pathogenic are the causative agents of many fatal diseases . Considered to be non-pathogenic, Group F streptococcus is increasingly being implicated in several disease conditions. Streptococcus F can have different forms of hemolysis and presence of carbohydrate antigens that are not routinely tested. As a result they might be wrongly classified as other type of Streptococci or dismissed as contaminant. Here we describe a rare presentation of Cavitary lung disease caused by Group F Streptococcus.

Genotypic characterization of Enterococcus species isolated from the oral cavity and their pattern of antibiotic susceptibility

Background: Enterococci comprise a small share of oral flora and occur as contaminants in food such as meat and cheese. They are commonly encountered in patients with infections of oral tissues such as necrotic pulp, root canals and periodontitis. Objectives: To characterize the genotypes of Enterococcus isolated from patients with oral infection and to determine their antibiotic susceptibility. Methods: We genotypically characterized a number of isolates of Enterococcus species derived from patients with various oral infections. All the isolates were tested for the presence of putative virulence genes; efaA (gene for endocarditis), gelE (gene for gelatinase), ace (gene for collagen binding antigen), asa (gene for aggregation substance), cylA (gene for cytolysin activator), and esp (gene for surface adhesin) of E. faecalis and E. faecium as described in previous studies. Results: E. faecalis dominated in oral infections compared with E. faecium. Isolates were susceptible to most antibiotics (only four were resistant to vancomycin). To our knowledge, the first report from this region. Conclusions: Treatment of enterococcal infections of the oral mucosal and deep oral areas necessitate microbiological diagnosis and identification of resistance strains. Keywords: Antibiotic susceptibility pattern, Enterococcus species, genotypic characterization, oral infections

Raceway pond cultivation of a new Arthrospira sp. ZJWST-S1 in digested piggery wastewater treated by MBR and ozonation

A new Arthrospira strain named Arthrospira sp. ZJWST-S1 was isolated from a local digested piggery wastewater (DPW) storage pool in Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province, China. It possessed good stain resistance against contaminants in DPW, which was pretreated with a membrane bioreactor (MBR). The strain was identified as Arthrospira platensis (A. platensis) based on its morphological characteristics and the 16S rDNA sequencing analysis. The effect of chrominance on growth of A. platensis ZJWST-S1 was investigated in a field raceway pond filled with MBR effluent or MBR effluent decolorized with ozonation. After ozonation, the chrominance of MBR effluent was decreased from 700 mg Pt/L to 150 mg Pt/L. Two runs of cultivation showed that A. platensis ZJWST-S1 grew faster in the ozone decolorized MBR effluent, the averaged biomass concentration being 0.907 g/L after 10 days of cultivation, close to that in a Zarrouk medium (0.969 g/L). By comparison, the biomass grew much slower in the non-decolorized MBR effluent (0.624 g/L). The pollutant removal was also benefited from the accelerative growth of A. platensis ZJWST-S1 in the decolorized MBR effluent. Almost all ammonium, 61.2% of nitrate and 68.1% of phosphate were removed by the A. platensis ZJWST-S1 in the decolorized MBR effluent, much higher than the corresponding values of almost all ammonium, 25.4% of nitrate and 36.5% of phosphate in the MBR effluent. Furthermore, the Arthrospira biomass harvested from the ozone decolorized MBR effluent after 10 d cultivation was with crude protein content of 59.1%±3.5% in dry algae powder. The content of Pb, As, Cd and Hg in biomass was also low enough to meet the Chinese Arthrospira Standard for Animal Feed (GB/T 17243-1998). This study showed that the new strain A. platensis ZJWST-S1 possessed potential to be used for producing animal feed and simultaneous removal of nitrogen and phosphorus in DPW. Keywords: digested piggery wastewater (DPW), ozone decolorization, Arthrospira platensis, 16S rDNA, nitrogen and phosphorus recovery DOI: 10.3965/j.ijabe.20171001.2697 Citation: Liu R, Yu Q Q, Guo Q Q, Zheng W, Wang G R, Chen L J. Raceway pond cultivation of a new Arthrospira sp. ZJWST-S1 in digested piggery wastewater treated by MBR and ozonation. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2017; 10(1): 115－124.

Blood culture contamination rates in two district general hospitals in the Southeast of England

Introduction: Blood culture is considered an important diagnostic tool to identify the causative agent of bloodstream infection (BSI) as well as to direct the definitive therapy. High contamination rate in any healthcare institution is directly linked with increased cost, use of unnecessary antibiotics and additional testing in the diagnostic laboratories. The audit team determined the blood culture contamination rate and the distribution of microorganisms causing BSIs in patients for the East Sussex Healthcare Trust, United Kingdom. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective study which analyses the blood culture results over 2 years period (January 2014 to December 2015). Positive blood cultures were grouped into significant, contaminant or unknown significance by reviewing patient clinical data collected at the time of positive blood culture and the microbiology records. Results: A total of 11036 blood cultures were processed in the microbiology laboratory during the study (January 2014 to December 2015). A total of 1641 (14.9%) blood cultures were positive. Of 1641, 1298 (11.8%) and 286 (2.6%) were grouped as significant and contaminant, respectively. Fifty-six positive blood culture sets remained indeterminate due to the lack of the clinical information. The overall contamination rates in both hospitals in 2014 and 2015 were 0.9% and 1.7%, respectively. The average yearly contamination rate is 1.3%. Higher contamination rates were recorded from the paediatric, emergency, orthopaedics and surgical departments. A total of 1753 microorganisms were isolated. The most common isolated organisms include Escherichia coli 482, (27.5%), Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus, 274 (15.6%), Streptococcus species, 183 (10.4%), Staphylococcus aureus, 162 (9.2%), Klebsiella species, 135 (7.7%), Enterococcus species, 109 (6.2%) and Streptococcus pneumonia, 48 (2.7%). Thirty-three Candida species were isolated. The prevalence of methicillin-resistant S. aureus and the extended-spectrum b-lactamase producing Enterobacteriaceae were low. Conclusion: The present data showed lower contamination rate in the Trust than the acceptable rates. It also supports the need for regular training and education of healthcare professional that collect blood culture where the contamination rates are high.

Infants breastfed: a require or a potential risk

The Ochratoxin A(OTA) is a nephrotoxic and carcinogenic mycotoxin which generates important risks for human health worldwide owing to food contamination merchandise, environment. Dietary contaminants ingested by nursing mothers can be found in their breast milk. Nevertheless, the rate of OTA lactation transfer has not been investigated so far at various stages of breastfeeding. The study aimed at assessing the presence and values of the mycotoxin Ochratoxin A in human milk in Isfahan, Iran, and sought to evaluate the potential risk for the newborn babies based on the mycotoxin taking. 41 lactating women were randomly selected and breast milk samples after delivery were taken to determine the prevalence of Ochratoxin A value by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and high performance liquid chromatography technique. Considering the total samples analyzed, only one case was contaminated with Ochratoxin A at 45 ng/l. Accordingly, the results indicated the exposure of mothers and neonates to Ochratoxin A and although the observed incidence was low, it is recommended that further investigations be conducted on mycotoxin contamination in large quantity both in food and biological fluids in addition to protection strategies to decrease the risk in Isfahan and other parts of the country.

Pb effects on an experimental model of porcine prepubertal Sertoli cells.

The environmental pollution is one of the main factors implicated in the world’s fertility decline. Lead (Pb) is one of the major heavy metal contaminants that impairs several organs but preferentially accumulates in male reproductive organs and alters in vivo and in vitro sperm quality [1]. Nowadays, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Sertoli cells (SC) provides structural and metabolic support to the spermatogenic cells within the seminiferous tubules, therefore, metabolic and structural changes in SC affect the developing germ cells and consequently alter spermatogenesis. This study aimed to assess whether exposure to subtoxic doses of Pb would adversely affect superior mammalian SC function. Highly purified and functional porcine pre-pubertal SC were isolated [2] and treated with three different Pb acetate concentrations. Parameters of SC functionality, such as inhibin B and anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) mRNAs and proteins were decreased by Pb exposure respect to the control, such as the FSH-r integrity in terms of 17-β-estradiol production, under FSH stimulation. In addition, we observed an increase of AKT and mTOR mRNAs, p38 phosphorylation ratio and Akt phosphorylation ratio in all experimental conditions, respect to the control. In conclusion, the Pb-related toxicity on SC, even at low concentrations, is expected to alter spermatogenesis.