Effect Of Urinary Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Metabolites And Moderating Effect Of Cotinine On Semen Quality

Objective:Epidemiological study exploring the association between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons?PAHs?and male reproductive health have suggested the detrimental effect of PAHs on semen quality,but the results are controversial.Cigarette smoking is a known cause of poor semen quality and exposure to cigarette smoking and PAHs is reported to often coincide.Moreover,there are evidence suggesting that smoking increases the risk of poor semen quality in PAHs exposed population,but the relationship between these two factors remains unclear.Thus,in this cross-sectional study ten different urinary metabolites of PAHs and cotinine,the possible biomarker for exposure to tobacco smoking were analyzed to illustrate the relationship between PAHs and cigarette smoking we examined the moderating effect of cotinine on association between PAHs and semen quality.Methods:755 subjects who came to a hospital in Hubei Province from October 2017 to January2018 were selected as the research subjects.Personal information?basic information,daily behavior,past medical history,occupational environment?,urine and semen samples were collected from the outpatients participating in the study.The concentrations of 10 OH-PAHs metabolites and cotinine in urine were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometer?GC-MS?.Semen quality was evaluated by computer-aided semen analysis system?CASA?.The receiver operating characteristic curve?ROC?is used to obtain the optimal truncation value of cotinine.The effect of PAHs on semen quality parameters was studied by multiple linear model.The moderating effect of cotinine on relationgship between OH-PAHs and semen quality parameters was explored using a general linear model.Results:In the multiple linear model,with the increase of 2-OHPhe concentration,the sperm concentration presented a decreasing trend?p for trend=0.021?.Besides the sperm concentration in the second and third tertile of 2-OHPhe decreased 28.53%(95%CI:-52.28%,-4.78%;2^nd VS 1^st)and 30.81%(95%CI:-55.02%,-6.59%;3^rd VS 1^st)respectively.With the increase of 3-OHPhe concentration,the sperm specific motility parameter VAP showed a decreasing trend?p for trend=0.049?.And VAP in the second and third tertile of 3-OHPhe decreased 1.44?m/sec(95%CI:-2.68,-0.18;2^nd VS 1^st)and 1.26?m/sec(95%CI:-2.51,-0.02;3^rd VS 1^st)respectively.We observed an interaction term between 2-OHFlu and cotinine on semen volume(p_int=0.02).Considering specific sperm motility parameters,2-OHNa and?OHNa interacted with cotinine on progressive motility(p_int=0.03,p_int?27?0.01)and total motility(p_int=0.02,p_int?27?0.01),respectively.In the specific motility parameters,2-OHNa,9-OHFlu and?OHNa interacted with cotinine on VCL(p_int=0.02,0.03,0.01),respectively;9-OHFlu and?OHPhe interacted with cotinine on VSL(p_int=0.05,0.01),respectively;?OHPhe interacted with cotinine on VAP and LIN(p_int=0.02,0.01).Our findings suggest that cigarette smoking may exacerbate the naphthalene and phenanthrene induced sperm damage.Further study is warranted to confirm the findings.Conclusions:The investigation of PAHs reported that there was a significant dose-response relationship between phenanthrene and semen quality,sperm concentration and sperm motility parameters showed a decreasing tendency along with the increase of phenanthrene concentration.Our findings suggest that cigarette smoking may exacerbate the naphthalene and phenanthrene induced sperm damage.Further study is warranted to confirm the findings.