Journal of Andrology Testis Workshop 2009
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Published-Ahead-of-Print January 8, 2009, DOI:10.2164/jandrol.108.006478
Journal of Andrology, Vol. 30, No. 3, May/June 2009
Copyright © American Society of Andrology
DOI: 10.2164/jandrol.108.006478

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Effects of an Environmentally Relevant Organochlorine Mixture and a Metabolized Extract of This Mixture on Porcine Sperm Parameters In Vitro

CÉLINE CAMPAGNA*, CHRISTINE GUILLEMETTE*, PIERRE AYOTTE{dagger} AND JANICE L. BAILEY*

From the * Centre de Recherche en Biologie de la Reproduction, Département de Sciences Animales; and the {dagger} Unité de Recherche en Santé Publique, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec-CHUL, Département de Médecine Sociale et Préventive, Université Laval, Québec, Canada.

Correspondence to: Dr Janice L. Bailey, Centre de Recherche en Biologie de la Reproduction, Département des Sciences Animales, Pavillon Paul-Comtois, Université Laval, Québec City, Québec, Canada G1V 0A6 (e-mail: janice.bailey{at}crbr.ulaval.ca).


Organochlorine chemicals are present in the environment worldwide; however, populations living in the Far North are particularly at risk because their traditional diets are mainly composed of contaminated animals (fish, seals, whales, and polar bears). It has been suggested that male fertility is globally declining, possibly because of chronic, low-level exposure to environmental contaminants. This study was designed to assess the effects on fresh sperm fertility parameters using the porcine model of 1) an environmentally relevant mixture of 15 organochlorines and 2) the metabolized extract of this mixture. In the first experiment, the organochlorine mixture (at relative concentrations of 10.5, 14.7, and 21 µg/mL polychlorinated biphenyls [PCBs]) reduced sperm total motility, progressive motility, and viability, and increased capacitation, spontaneous acrosome reaction rates, and cytosolic calcium levels, suggesting that the mixture alters the sperm membrane and is detrimental to sperm function. In the second experiment, the metabolized extract of this organochlorine mixture (at relative concentrations of 0.9, 1.8, 2.7, 3.6, and 4.5 µg/L OH-PCBs) tended to decrease only sperm total motility. In an in vitro porcine model, the mixture of organochlorines, as found in the Arctic food chain, was rapidly detrimental to sperm function at concentrations above environmental levels. In contrast, short and physiologically relevant exposure to the metabolized extract of this mixture induced only limited adverse effects on sperm motility.

     Key words: Metabolites, PCB, spermatozoa, DDE






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