B(a)P adduct levels and fertility: A cross-sectional study in a Sicilian population

Abstract

Benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) is a carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon for human tissues. Still today it is not fully investigated if BaP can affect negatively the male fertility through the BaP-DNA adducts production. In the present study, BaP Tetrol I-1 (TI-1) and BaP Tetrol II-2 (TII-2) BaP-DNA adducts were investigated in spermatozoa of a Sicilian male population. Semen samples from 86 volunteers in two eastern Sicilian cities (Regalbuto and Melilli) were collected. The quality of semen was evaluated in all samples according to the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. We analyzed BaP-DNA adducts in extracted sperm cell DNA using the modified high-performance liquid chromatography-fluorescence method to detects both Tetrols. Differences between Tetrol levels were assessed by the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and the Mann-Whitney U test, as appropriate. Correlation between semen quality parameters and Tetrol concentrations were analyzed using the Spearman's correlation coefficient. Σ(TI-1+TII-2) were significantly higher in spermatozoa of volunteers from Regalbuto. Furthermore, a greater dispersion of the levels of adducts was observed in these specimens. TI-1 adducts were higher than TII-2 in Melilli samples (95% CI) and TII-2 were higher than TI-1 in Regalbuto semen samples (95% CI). A significant inverse correlation between sperm progressive motility and both TI-1 and TII-2 adducts was observed. The present study showed that BaP negatively affects male fertility by TI-1 and TII-2 DNA-adduct production. These results suggest that DNA adducts could be used as biomarker to assess BaP exposure by air pollution. Further studies are needed to confirm if these findings could affect male fertility because of the growing impairment of this function observed in recent years.

Endocrine-Disrupting Air Pollutants and Their Effects on the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Gonadal Axis

“…Tobacco smoke is also a source of PAH exposure; reproductive abnormalities in women are associated with smoking [60]. Benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) is a well-known PAH that can generate reactive oxygen species and create BP diol-epoxide-DNA adducts (BPDE) [66]. BaP exposure can come from automobile exhaust and cigarette smoke [67].…”

“…Conti et al [66] analyzed semen samples from 86 volunteers from Regalbuto (rural) and Melilli (industrial), Sicily. BaP Tetrol I-1 (TI-1) and BaP Tetrol II-2 (TII-2) are biomarkers of BaP exposure [66]. In Melilli men, the number of TI-1 adducts was greater, while in Regalbuto men the number of TII-2 adducts was greater.…”

Role of Emerging Environmental Risk Factors in Thyroid Cancer: A Brief Review

“…Several diseases are associated to environmental pollutants including male/female fertility, cancers, metabolic and thyroid conditions, allergy, etc. [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9].…”

Environment and Male Fertility: Effects of Benzo-α-Pyrene and Resveratrol on Human Sperm Function In Vitro

“…Indeed, BaP has been classified as carcinogenic yet it must be metabolically activated to cause its deleterious effects [2]. The main route of BaP metabolism involves hydrolase, phase 1 enzyme, which metabolizes BaP into the precancerous compound benzo[a]pyrene-r-7,t-8-dihydrodiol-t9,10-epoxide (BPDE) that binds covalently to DNA [3,4,5,6,7]. Metabolically activated BaP increases reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and consequently oxidative stress, resulting in increased lipid peroxidation, caspase, and endonuclease activation [8,9].…”