Xenoestrogenic chemicals effectively alter sperm functional behavior in mice.

Yoo-Jin Park, El-Sayed A Mohamed, Woo-Sung Kwon, Young-Ah You, Buom-Yong Ryu, Myung-Geol Pang, Yoo-Jin Park, El-Sayed A Mohamed, Woo-Sung Kwon, Young-Ah You, Buom-Yong Ryu, Myung-Geol Pang, Yoo-Jin Park, El-Sayed A. Mohamed, Woo-Sung Kwon, Young-Ah You, Buom-Yong Ryu, Myung-Geol Pang

Index: Reprod. Toxicol. 32(4) , 418-24, (2011)

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Abstract

Xenoestrogenic compounds (XCs) can disrupt endogenous hormone function and affect sperm function by binding to receptors on sperm membrane. Albeit spermatozoa are potentially a useful model for screening estrogenic activities of endocrine disruptors, high-quality in vitro test system that examination of the XCs effects on sperm function is required. The objective of this study was to compare the effects of XCs (genistein and 4-tert-octylphenol) to those of steroids (estrogen and progesterone) and heparin on in vitro capacitation and acrosome reaction (AR) in mouse spermatozoa. Mouse spermatozoa were incubated with various concentrations (0.001-100 μM) of each chemical for 15 or 30 min, and then capacitation and AR were assessed using chlortetracycline. All chemicals studied effectively alter capacitation and/or AR in mouse spermatozoa with different manner. Therefore, we believed that our system will provide a good in vitro model system to characterize the physiological effect of XCs especially when compared with steroids.Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.