Male fertility can be impaired by various toxicants. Some of them are known to target mainly Sertoli cells, which play an essential role in spermatogenesis. In this study, the in vitro response of immature rat Sertoli cells to various environmental pollutants, including pesticides, oestrogenic compounds and heavy metals, has been investigated. Mitochondrial dehydrogenase activity has been used to measure Sertoli cell viability, while production of lactate and secretion of inhibin B have been used as general and specific cell markers. Sertoli cell viability was not affected after 24-h exposure to lindane, DDT, ethinyloestradiol or bisphenol A in the concentration range analysed (up to 100, 25 or 50 microM, respectively). In contrast, mercury(II) (EC50 = 31 microM) and cisplatin (15% decrease in viability at 100 microM) induced some cytotoxic effect. With the exception of the pesticide DDT, all chemicals investigated induced a significant dose-dependent increase in lactate production after 24-h exposure to Sertoli cells. Owing to the cytotoxic effect of mercury(II), lactate levels dropped again at concentrations above 20 microM. The pesticide lindane (but not DDT) and both oestrogens significantly increased the production of the Sertoli cell specific hormone inhibin B without affecting cell viability. In contrast, the heavy metals mercury(II) and platinum(II) markedly decreased inhibin B levels. This sharp decrease was already significant at metal concentrations that reduced Sertoli cell viability only moderately (10-15%). In conclusion, the secretion of lactate and inhibin B by immature rat Sertoli cells seems to be a useful and sensitive marker with which to explore potential Sertoli cell toxicants.
The structural diversity of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) strongly depends on the Lewis (Le) blood group status of the donor which allows a classification of these glycans into three different groups. Starting from 50 μL of human milk, a new high-throughput, standardized, and widely automated mass spectrometric approach has been established which can be used for correlation of HMO structures with the respective Lewis blood groups on the basis of mass profiles of the entire mixture of glycans together with selected fragment ion spectra. For this purpose, the relative abundance of diagnostically relevant compositional species, such as Hex(2)Fuc(2) and Hex(3)HexNAc(1)Fuc(2), as well as the relative intensities of characteristic fragment ions obtained thereof are of key importance. For each Lewis blood group, i.e., Le(a-b+), Le(a+b-), and Le(a-b-), specific mass profile and fragment ion patterns could be thus verified. The described statistically proven classification of the derived glycan patterns may be a valuable tool for analysis and comparison of large sets of milk samples in metabolic studies. Furthermore, the outlined protocol may be used for rapid screening in clinical studies and quality control of milk samples donated to milk banks.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.