Effects Of Glyphosate Herbicide Roundup On Reproductive And Immunologic Function Of Male Mice

?Objective?To observe the effect on reproductive and immunologic function of roundup(active ingredient is glyphosate)on male Balb/c mice.?Methods?1.60 SPF male Balb/c mice were randomly divided into three experimental groups and one control(distilled water)group.15 mice in each group were treated with solution of roundup(20 ml/kg)through gavage at the dose of 0,20,200,2 000 mg/kg once a day for 30consecutive days.The mice were sacrificed on day 31 for sperm count and sperm motility in epididymides,testosterone(T)levels of serum were also tested.The activity of lactate dehydrogenase(LDH),succinatedehydrogenase(SDH)and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase(?-GT)of testicular homogenate were examined.Meanwhile,the level of malondialdehyde(MDA)and the activity of total superoxide dismutase(T-SOD),glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px)were determined.Light microscope were used to observe pathological changes in testicle of mice.Apoptosis in testicle tissue were detected with terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase(TdT)-mediated nick end labeling(TUNEL)method.2.40 SPF male Balb/c mice were randomly divided into three experimental groups and one control(distilled water)group.10 mice in each group were treated with solution of roundup(20 ml/kg)through gavage at the dose of 0,20,200,2 000 mg/kg once a day for 30consecutive days.After the exposure,the spleen and thymus of mice were collected.FCM was used to analyse the percentage of CD3~+,CD4~+,CD8~+T lymphocytes,CD45r~+B lymphocytes,CD49b~+natural killer cells of spleen and the CD4~+,CD8~+T lymphocytes of thymus;the ratio of CD4~+T/CD8~+T were calculated separately.The level of MDA,T-SOD,GSH-Px in spleen homogenate and thymus homogenate were also measured.?Results?1.Effects of roundup exposure on reproductive function on male Balb/c mice.After 30 days exposure to roundup,the weight of mice declined significantly in 200 and2 000mg/kg treated groups and the weight of testis in each treated groups declined significantly(P<0.01).Compared with the control group,the number and motility of sperm decreased in 200 and 2 000 mg/kg treated groups(P<0.01).Testosterone levels of serum in each group decreased significantly(P<0.01).Abscission and disarranged of spermatogenic epithelium were observed,some of the cells showed degeneration,necrosis and nuclear pyknosis,sperm count in seminiferous tubules decreased in the meantime.With the increase of the dose,the damage is further aggravated.TUNEL test indicated that the apoptosis rate in 200 and 2 000mg/kg treated groups increased significantly(P<0.01).The activity of LDH in the testis homogenate of mice exposed to 200 mg/kg and 2 000 mg/kg of roundup showed a downward trend,the activity of SDH showed a tendency to increase and then decrease,but there was no significant difference in activity of LDH,SDH and?-GT between the experimental and control groups.The level of MDA showed remarkably increase in 2000mg/kg treated group(P<0.01)and the activity of GSH-Px declined significantly in each treated groups(P<0.05,P<0.01).2.Effects of roundup exposure on immunologic function on male Balb/c mice.The weight of spleen of mice in 200 and 2 000mg/kg roundup treated group decreased significantly after 30 days exposure to roundup(P<0.01).The percentage of CD4~+T lymphocytes in spleen increased significantly in each roundup treated groups.CD3~+T,CD8~+T lymphocytes in spleen increased and CD45r~+B lymphocytes cells decreased significantly,differences were significant compared with the control group(P<0.01).There was no significant change in the proportion of CD3~-CD49b~+NK cells.The ratio of CD4~+T/CD8~+T in spleen decreased in each roundup treated groups and only 200 mg/kg treated groups decreased significantly(P<0.01).The percentage of CD4~+and CD8~+T lymphocytes of thymus in 200,2 000mg/kg treated groups were increased(P<0.05,P<0.01);CD4~+T/CD8~+T ratio decreased significantly in each treated groups(P<0.01).The level of MDA increased and the level of GSH-Px decreased significantly of spleen homogenate in each treated groups(P<0.05,P<0.01).The level of MDA increased and the levels of T-SOD and GSH-Px decreased significantly of thymus homogenate in 200 and2 000 mg/kg roundup treated group(P<0.05,P<0.01).?Conclusions?1.Herbicide roundup has toxic effect on reproductive function of male Balb/c mice within the range of exposure period and dose,which may pierce through blood-testis barrier and destroy the function of testicular tissue,it also can decrease the sperm quality and serum testosterone level of mice.2.Roundup may destroy the balance of testicular enzyme activity,and destroy the oxidative balance in testis,it also can induce apoptosis of testicular tissue cells.3.Roundup can effect the immune state of mice by destroy the balance of lymphocyte subsets and oxidative state in spleen and thymus of mice within the range of period and dose.