Polystyrene microplastics induce blood–testis barrier disruption regulated by the MAPK-Nrf2 signaling pathway in rats

As a persistent pollutant, microplastics (MPs) have been reported to induce sperm quantity decrease in mice. However, the related mechanism remains obscure. Therefore, this study is intended to explore the effects of polystyrene microplastics (PS-MPs) on male reproduction and its related mechanism of blood-testis barrier (BTB) impairment. Thirty-two adult male Wistar rats were divided randomly into four groups fed with PS-MPs for 90 days at doses of 0 mg/day (control group), 0.015 mg/day, 0.15 mg/day, and 1.5 mg/day, respectively. The present results have shown that PS-MP exposure led to the damage of seminiferous tubule, resulted in apoptosis of spermatogenic cells, and decreased the motility and concentration of sperm, while the abnormality of sperm was elevated. Meanwhile, PS-MPs could induce oxidative stress and activate the p38 MAPK pathway and thus deplete the nuclear factor erythroid-2 related factor 2 (Nrf2). Noteworthily, PS-MPs led to the BTB-related protein expression decrease. All these results demonstrated that PS-MP exposure may lead to the destruction of BTB integrity and the apoptosis of spermatogenic cells through the activation of the MAPK-Nrf2 pathway. The current study provided novelty evidence for elucidating the effects of PS-MPs on male reproductive toxicity and its potential mechanism.