LIPID-PEROXIDATION AND ANTIOXIDANT ENZYME-ACTIVITIES IN THE RAT TESTIS AFTER CIGARETTE-SMOKE INHALATION OR ADMINISTRATION OF POLYCHLORINATED-BIPHENYLS OR POLYCHLORINATED NAPHTHALENES
V. Peltola et al., LIPID-PEROXIDATION AND ANTIOXIDANT ENZYME-ACTIVITIES IN THE RAT TESTIS AFTER CIGARETTE-SMOKE INHALATION OR ADMINISTRATION OF POLYCHLORINATED-BIPHENYLS OR POLYCHLORINATED NAPHTHALENES, Journal of andrology, 15(4), 1994, pp. 353-361
Lipid peroxidation products and antioxidant enzyme activities were stu
died in the rat testis following exposures to cigarette smoke, polychl
orinated biphenyls (PCBs), or polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs). Thr
ee hours after a single 1-hour period of smoke inhalation, the levels
of fluorescent chromolipids and thiobarbituric acid-reactive species (
TBARS) were markedly increased in the testis (+49%, P < 0.01, and +43%
, P < 0.05, respectively). Twelve hours after daily smoking for 1 hour
, for 1, 5, or 10 days, such an increase was not found. Activities of
the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, glutathi
one peroxidase (GSH-Px), glutathione transferase (GSH-Tr), or hexose m
onophosphate shunt (HMS) were not affected immediately, 3 hours, or 12
hours after a single smoking session. Twelve hours after smoking for
5 days, the activity of catalase was decreased (-16%, P < 0.05). Smoki
ng exposures had no consistent effects on serum follicle-stimulating h
ormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), or testosterone concentrations
. Single i.p. injections of PCB or PCN mixtures resulted in decreases
in testicular SOD activity 1 day after the exposures (-14%, P < 0.05,
and -51%, P < 0.01,respectively). Catalase activity also decreased aft
er both exposures (-30 to -42%, P < 0.05, at days 1-7 after PCB exposu
re, and -37 to -43%, P < 0.05, at days 3-7 after PCN exposure). Ninety
days after the PCN exposure, activities of GSH-Px and GSH-Tr were dec
reased in the testis (-20%, P < 0.05, and -26%, P < 0.05, respectively
). The only statistically significant change in lipid peroxidation mea
surements in the testes of PCB- or PCN-treated rats was a decrease in
TBARS by 13% (P < 0.01) 1 day after PCN exposure. The main findings of
this study were the increase in lipid peroxidation in the rat testis
after cigarette smoke inhalation and the impairment of the function of
the enzymatic antioxidant defense after exposures to PCBs or PCNs. Th
ese results suggest that free radical-dependent mechanisms may play an
important role in the testicular toxicity of environmental chemicals.