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Papers
61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Oxidative Stress and Autophagy: Unraveling the Hidden Threat to Boars’ Fertility
ClearImpact of Oxidative Stress on Male Reproduction in Domestic and Wild Animals
This review examines how oxidative stress, an imbalance between harmful reactive oxygen molecules and the body's antioxidant defenses, impairs male reproductive function in both domestic and wild animals. Researchers found that oxidative damage to sperm can reduce fertility, compromise offspring health, and is worsened by environmental pollutants including microplastics. The study highlights the growing concern that environmental contaminants are contributing to reproductive decline across animal species.
Interplay of Ferroptosis, Cuproptosis, Autophagy and Pyroptosis in Male Infertility: Molecular Crossroads and Therapeutic Opportunities
This review examines how different types of cell death, including ferroptosis, cuproptosis, pyroptosis, and autophagy, contribute to male infertility by damaging sperm-producing cells. Environmental toxins, including microplastics, can trigger these destructive pathways through oxidative stress and mitochondrial damage. Understanding these mechanisms is important because it helps explain how environmental pollutant exposure could be contributing to declining male fertility worldwide.
Microplastics from agricultural plastic mulch films: A mini-review of their impacts on the animal reproductive system
This review summarized research on how microplastics from agricultural plastic mulch films affect animal reproductive systems. Evidence indicates that microplastics can decrease oocyte quality, damage the blood-testis barrier, and compromise sperm quality in various organisms, with reactive oxygen species-related pathways implicated as key mechanisms driving these reproductive effects.
Microplastics and male reproductive system: A comprehensive review based on cellular and molecular effects
This comprehensive review examines how microplastics affect the male reproductive system at cellular and molecular levels, drawing on studies from multiple scientific databases. Researchers found that microplastics can damage testicular structure and function, impair spermatogenesis, and disrupt sperm parameters through mechanisms including oxidative stress, inflammation, and activation of cell death pathways. The review highlights that microplastics reduce ATP production and trigger signaling cascades that may contribute to male fertility problems.
Microplastics and impaired male reproductive health—exploring biological pathways of harm: a narrative review
This narrative review summarizes the evidence that microplastics may harm male reproductive health through oxidative stress, hormone disruption, inflammation, and direct damage to reproductive cells. While animal studies show concerning effects on sperm quality, testicular function, and fertility, human studies are still lacking. The review calls for urgent research on microplastic impacts on human male fertility and for policies to reduce microplastic exposure.
Testicular mitochondrial redox imbalance and impaired oxidative phosphorylation underlie microplastic-induced testicular dysfunction in Wistar rats
Researchers investigated how polyethylene microplastics affect male reproductive function in rats by examining testicular mitochondrial health. The study found that microplastic exposure disrupted mitochondrial redox balance and impaired oxidative phosphorylation in testicular tissue, providing mechanistic evidence for how microplastics may contribute to male reproductive toxicity.
Micro- and nanoplastics in human male reproduction: Immune disruption, blood–testis barrier, and clinic-ready biomarkers
This review synthesizes evidence that micro- and nanoplastics have been detected in human testes and semen, with experimental models showing they trigger oxidative stress, NLRP3 inflammasome activation, and disruption of blood-testis barrier tight-junction proteins, collectively impairing sperm production and quality.
Impact of Microplastics and Nanoplastics on Livestock Health: An Emerging Risk for Reproductive Efficiency
This review summarizes the growing evidence that microplastics and nanoplastics harm livestock reproductive systems through oxidative stress, hormone disruption, and organ damage. Farm animals are particularly important because contaminants in their bodies can transfer to humans through meat, milk, and eggs. The review warns that microplastic accumulation in livestock could create a hidden food safety risk through biological amplification up the food chain.
Repression of autophagy leads to acrosome biogenesis disruption caused by a sub-chronic oral administration of polystyrene nanoparticles
Researchers examined how polystyrene nanoplastics (50 nm) affect male reproductive health in mice after 35 days of oral exposure. The study found that medium and high doses impaired sperm quality and testicular structure, with acrosome biogenesis disruption linked to suppressed autophagy. The findings suggest that nanoplastic exposure may interfere with male fertility through disruption of cellular recycling processes.
Oxidative Stress and Male Fertility: Promising Role of Nutraceuticals
This paper is not about microplastics; it reviews the role of oxidative stress in male infertility and the potential of nutraceuticals (antioxidant-rich dietary supplements) to improve sperm quality and hormonal profiles, with no connection to microplastic research.
Microplastics: unraveling the signaling pathways involved in reproductive health
This review examines the effects of microplastics on male and female reproductive health, focusing on the metabolic pathways involved in compromised gamete quality, toxicity, apoptosis, and DNA damage. Evidence indicates that microplastics can increase oxidative stress leading to developmental abnormalities, epigenetic changes, and reduced gamete quality, though research on mammalian and human reproductive effects remains limited compared to studies in aquatic organisms.
Quantitative analysis and toxicological mechanisms of various male infertility inducers: A network meta-analysis and pharmacological approach.
This network meta-analysis of 201 rodent studies compared nine common male infertility inducers, finding that microplastics caused among the most severe impairments to sperm count and motility — on par with the chemotherapy drug cyclophosphamide. Oxidative stress emerged as a shared mechanistic pathway across all inducers, pointing to it as a key target for understanding and potentially mitigating reproductive harm from environmental exposures.
Combined effect of polystyrene microplastics and cadmium on rat blood-testis barrier integrity and sperm quality
Researchers exposed male rats to polystyrene microplastics and cadmium, both separately and together, and found that both substances damaged testicular tissue, disrupted the blood-testis barrier, and reduced sperm quality. Notably, the combined exposure was less severe than cadmium alone, likely because microplastics absorbed some cadmium in the gut and reduced its bioavailability. The study also found for the first time that microplastics trigger autophagy in reproductive cells as a protective response.
Adverse effects and potential mechanisms of polystyrene microplastics (PS-MPs) on the blood-testis barrier
This review examines how polystyrene microplastics damage the blood-testis barrier, a critical structure that protects developing sperm cells from harmful substances. Microplastics can break down this barrier through oxidative stress, inflammation, and disruption of gut bacteria, allowing pollutants and immune cells to enter the reproductive system. These findings suggest that microplastic exposure may contribute to declining male fertility, a trend observed globally in recent decades.
Polystyrene nanoplastics aggravated dibutyl phthalate-induced blood-testis barrier dysfunction via suppressing autophagy in male mice
In a mouse study, polystyrene nanoplastics combined with dibutyl phthalate (a common plasticizer chemical) caused significantly worse damage to the blood-testis barrier than either substance alone. The nanoplastics carried the phthalate into the reproductive system, where the combination reduced sperm quality, impaired sperm development, and damaged the protective barrier around the testes. This research shows how nanoplastics can make other common plastic chemicals more dangerous to male fertility.
Lutein Can Alleviate Oxidative Stress, Inflammation, and Apoptosis Induced by Excessive Alcohol to Ameliorate Reproductive Damage in Male Rats
Researchers found that high-dose lutein supplementation alleviated alcohol-induced male reproductive damage in rats by reducing oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis in testicular tissue, restoring sperm quality and sex hormone levels.
Microplastic presence in boar semen: potential risks for reproductive health
Researchers detected microplastic particles in boar semen samples, raising questions about the effects of microplastic contamination on sperm quality and reproductive health in both animals and potentially humans.
New Insight on the In Vitro Effects of Melatonin in Preserving Human Sperm Quality
Researchers found that melatonin protects human sperm quality against cadmium-induced oxidative stress in vitro, preserving motility, viability, DNA integrity, and mitochondrial function while reducing lipid peroxidation over 24 hours of exposure.
Male Reproductive Toxicity of Antifouling Chemicals: Insights into Oxidative Stress-Induced Infertility and Molecular Mechanisms of Zinc Pyrithione (ZPT)
This review examines how zinc pyrithione (ZPT), a chemical widely used in antifouling paints and personal care products, harms male reproductive health. ZPT triggers oxidative stress that leads to lower sperm counts, reduced sperm movement, decreased testosterone, and damage to testicular tissue. While focused on ZPT specifically, the review highlights how industrial chemicals that enter waterways, often carried by microplastics, can threaten fertility in both marine life and potentially humans.
Unravelling the potential mechanisms of nano- and microplastic toxicity to the male reproductive system: A systematic review
This systematic review found that micro- and nanoplastics accumulate in the testes and epididymis in rodent models, disrupting the blood-testis barrier, increasing germ cell death, reducing sperm motility, and causing hormone imbalance through oxidative stress and inflammation. Smaller nanoplastics penetrate tissues more readily for molecular disruption, while larger microplastics cause greater structural damage.
Reproductive toxicity and related mechanisms of micro(nano)plastics in terrestrial mammals: Review of current evidence.
This review of terrestrial mammal studies found that micro- and nanoplastics induce reproductive toxicity through oxidative stress, inflammation, endocrine disruption, and DNA damage, affecting both male and female fertility. In males, effects include blood-testis barrier disruption and impaired spermatogenesis, while females show compromised oocyte maturation, ovarian fibrosis, and diminished ovarian reserve, with particles also capable of crossing the maternal-fetal interface.
Environmental determinants of male infertility: emerging threats and technological interventions
This review examines how environmental contaminants, including microplastics, air pollution, heavy metals, and endocrine-disrupting chemicals, may contribute to declining male fertility. The study suggests these environmental toxins can impair sperm function through oxidative stress, hormonal imbalance, and inflammation, and highlights the need for integrating environmental exposure data into fertility assessments.
Polystyrene Microplastics Disrupt Spermatogenesis through Oxidative Stress in Rat Testicular Tissue
Male Wistar rats orally administered polystyrene microplastics showed excessive oxidative stress in testicular tissue across all exposure groups, with spermatogenesis impairment and reduced fertility correlating with dose, demonstrating reproductive toxicity in a mammalian model.
Investigating polystyrene nanoplastics-induced reproductive toxicity in vitro: Focus on Nrf2-PKM2-autophagy signaling pathway
This lab study investigated how polystyrene nanoplastics damage male reproductive cells, finding they triggered autophagy (cellular self-digestion) and disrupted key proteins in a signaling pathway important for sperm cell survival. The findings suggest nanoplastics could impair male fertility by causing programmed cell death in testicular cells. This adds to growing evidence that plastic nanoparticles can harm reproductive health.