The Reproductive Toxicity Of Ethephon To Mice

Objective:In this study,C57 mice were given intragastric administration,and the changes of ethephon on the testes and ovaries of mice were observed on 20 and 40 days respectively,and the possible toxic mechanism was explored,so as to ensure the safety of diet for the standardized use of ethephon in the future to provide scientific basis.Method:Eighty healthy C57 mice with half males and half females were randomly divided into control group,107.3 mg·kg^-1 ethephon group,214.5 mg·kg^-1 ethephon group,429.0mg·kg^-1 ethephon group,20 animals in each group.Each ethephon group was given ethephon once a day by gavage,and the control group was given pure water once a day by gavage.After 20 and 40 days of gavage,blood was taken from the orbital venous sinus and then dislocated and sacrificed.Male mouse were measured for T,FSH,LH serum sex hormone level,take the testicular tissue,and determine LDH,SDH,G-6-PD marker enzyme activity index,Na⁺-K⁺-ATPase,and Ca²⁺-Mg²⁺-ATPase testicular tissue metabolic enzyme activity index,SOD,CAT,GSH-PX,MDA lipid peroxidation damage index and testicular cell cycle and apoptosis rate changes;measure the female mice P,E₂,FSH,LH serum sex hormone levels,take the ovaries,and determine the changes in ovarian cell cycle and apoptosis rate.Result:1.Changes in body weight and genital organ coefficient of mice in each groupIn male mice,the body weight and testicular organ coefficient of each ethephon group had no significant changes compared with the control group（P>0.05）;after 40days of exposure,the epididymal organ coefficient in the 214.5 mg·kg^-1 ethephon group was significantly higher than that in the 107.3 mg·kg^-1 ethephon group and 29.0 mg·kg^-1 ethephon group（P<0.05）.In female mice,after 20 days of exposure,the weight of the 429.0 mg·kg^-1ethephon group was significantly lower than that of the other groups（P<0.05）;the ovarian organ coefficients of mice in the 107.3 and 214.5 mg·kg^-1 ethephon exposure groups was significantly higher than those in the control group（P<0.05）.After 40 days of exposure,the ovarian organ coefficients of the ethephon group was significantly lower than those in the control group（P<0.05）.2.Changes in serum neutral hormone levels of mice in each groupAfter 20 days of male mice exposure,the T content in each ethephon group was significantly higher than that in the control group（P<0.05）;the FSH content of the 214.5mg·kg^-1 ethephon exposure group was significantly lower than that in the control group（P<0.05）,the FSH content of the 429.0 mg·kg^-1 ethephon group was significantly lower than that in the other groups（P<0.05）;the LH content of each ethephon group was significantly higher than that in the control group（P<0.05）.After 40 days of exposure,the T content of 107.3 and 214.5 mg·kg^-1 ethephon was significantly higher than that in the control group（P<0.05）;the FSH content 214.5 mg·kg^-1 ethephon group was significantly lower than the 107.3 mg·kg^-1 ethephon group（P<0.05）,the FSH content of 429.0 mg·kg^-1 ethephon group was significantly lower than that in the other groups（P<0.05）,with the increase of the exposure dose,the change of LH content showed a decreasing trend.After 20 days of female mice exposure,the P content of each ethephon group was significantly lower than that in the control group（P<0.05）,the P content of 214.5 and429.0 mg·kg^-1 ethephon groups were significantly lower than 107.3 mg·kg^-1 ethephon group（P<0.05）;with the increase of the exposure dose,the FSH content change showed a decreasing trend;the LH content of the 429.0 mg·kg^-1 ethephon group was significantly higeher than that in the other groups（P<0.05）.After 40 days of exposure,the content of P of each ethephon groups was significantly lower than that in the control group（P<0.05）,the serum P content of mice in the 214.5 and 429.0 mg·kg^-1ethephon groups was significantly lower than 107.3 mg·kg^-1 ethephon group（P<0.05）;the content of E₂ in each ethephon groups was significantly lower than that in the control group（P<0.05）,the content of E₂ in the 429.0 mg·kg^-1ethephon exposure group was significantly lower than those in the 107.3 and 214.5 mg·kg^-1 ethephon groups（P<0.05）;the FSH activity of the 214.5 mg·kg^-1 ethephon group was lower than that of the control group（P<0.05）,the FSH activity of the 429.0 mg·kg^-1 ethephon group was higher than that of the other groups（P<0.05）;the LH content of each ethephon group was significantly higher than that of the control group（P<0.05）,as the exposure dose of ethephon increased,the LH content showed an upward trend.3.Changes of cell apoptosis and cycle in testis and ovary of mice in each groupMale mice were exposed for 20 days,the testicular cell apoptosis rate of each ethephon group was significantly higher than that of the control group（P<0.05）;the S phase and G2/M percentage of each ethephon group were higher than that of the control group（P<0.05）.Male mice were exposed for 40 days,with the increase of the poisoning dose,the apoptosis rate of testicular tissues showed an increasing trend;the S phase and G2/M percentages of each ethephon group increased compared with the control group（P<0.05）.In female mice exposed to the ethephon for 20 days,the apoptosis rate of 214.5and 429.0 mg·kg^-1 ethephon was significantly lower than that of the control group and107.3 mg·kg^-1 ethephon group（P<0.05）;the G2/M stage of 214.5 and 429.0 mg·kg^-1ethephon group was significantly higher than that in the control group and 107.3 mg·kg^-1 ethephon group（P<0.05）.In female mice exposed to the ethephon for 40 days,the apoptotic rate of ovarian cells in the 107.3 mg·kg^-1ethephon group was higher than that in the control group,the apoptosis rate of the 214.5 and 429.0 mg·kg^-1 ethephon group was significantly lower than that of the 107.3 mg·kg^-1 ethephon group（P<0.05）;the G2/M phase of each group was significantly higher than that in the control group（P<0.05）.4.Changes in enzyme activity,ATPase activity,and lipid peroxidation levels in testis tissues of mice in each groupWhen the male mice were exposed for 20 days,the LDH content of each ethephon group was significantly lower than that in the control group（P<0.05）;the level of G-6-PD in the 107.3 mg·kg^-1 ethephon group was significantly lower than that in the control group（P<0.05）,the G-6-PD content of the 429.0 mg·kg^-1 ethephon group was significantly lower than that of the 107.3 and 214.5 mg·kg^-1 ethephon group（P<0.05）;the SDH content in the 214.5 mg·kg^-1 ethephon group was significantly lower than that in the control group and the 107.3 mg·kg^-1 ethephon group（P<0.05）.After 40 days of exposure,the LDH and G-6-PD levels in the 214.5 and 429.0mg·kg^-1 ethephon groups were significantly lower than those in the control group and the 107.3 mg·kg^-1 ethephon group（P<0.05）;the SDH content of each ethephon group was significantly lower than that of the control group（P<0.05）.Male mice were exposed for 20 days,the Na⁺-K⁺-ATPase activity of each ethephon group was significantly lower than that in the control group（P<0.05）;the Ca²⁺-Mg²⁺-ATPase activity of each ethephon group was significantly lower than that in the control group（P<0.05）.Male mice were exposed for 40 days,the Na⁺-K⁺-ATPase activity of each ethephon group was significantly lower than that of the control group（P<0.05）,the Na⁺-K⁺-ATPase activity of the 429.0 mg·kg^-1 ethephon group was significantly lower than that in 107.3 mg·kg^-1ethephon group（P<0.05）;the activity of Ca²⁺-Mg²⁺-ATPase in each ethephon group was significantly higher than that in the control group（P<0.05）.Male mice were exposed for 20 days,with the increase of the exposure dose,the change of MDA content showed a decreasing trend;the content of GSH-Px in the 429.0mg·kg^-1 ethephon group was significantly lower than that in the other ethephon group（P<0.05）;the content of each SOD ethephon group was significantly lower than that of the control group（P<0.05）;the content of CAT in each ethephon group was significantly lower than that of the control group.Male mice were exposed for 40 days,the MDA content in the 214.5 and 429.0mg·kg^-1 ethephon groups were significantly lower than that in the control group and the107.3 mg·kg^-1 ethephon group（P<0.05）;the content of GSH-Px in each ethephon group was significantly higher than that in the control group（P<0.05）,with the increase of the exposure dose,the change of GSH-Px content showed an upward trend;the content of SOD each ethephon group was significantly lower than that of the control group（P<0.05）;with the increase of the toxic dose,the change of CAT content showed a downward trend.Conclusion:1.Ethephon interferes with the level of serum sex hormones in mice,resulting in the increase of T content in the serum of male rats;the decrease of FSH content;the increase of LH content,and the decrease of LH content with the increase of exposure time;resulting in the decrease of E₂ and P content in the serum of female rats.As the LH content increases,the FSH content decreases first,and as the exposure time increases,the FSH content increases.2.Ethephon affects the cell cycle changes of testis and ovarian tissues,and leads to testicular cell apoptosis,but it has an inhibitory effect on ovarian cell apoptosis.3.Ethephon can interfere with the activities of LDH,SDH and G-6-PD in the testis tissue of male mice.4.Ethephon can cause energy metabolism disorders in testicular tissue,and change the activity of Na⁺-K⁺-ATPase and Ca²⁺-Mg²⁺-ATPase in testicular tissue.5.Ethephon will interfere with the lipid oxidation process of testicular tissue,which is manifested by the decrease of MDA,CAT,SOD content and the change of GSH-Px activity.