Exposure to polystyrene disrupts sperm metabolism and alters early embryo expression profiles (PRJCA034265)

The exposure to microplastics has significant impacts on reproductive health. In this study, we administered physiological saline and polystyrene (30 mg/kg/day) via gavage to C57BL/6 male mice for one spermatogenesis cycle (35 days) to investigate the effects of polystyrene on male reproduction and early embryonic development. Our study found that gavage administration of a specific dose of polystyrene significantly increased the immune inflammatory response in testicular tissue and decreased sperm motility, resulting in a significant reduction in embryo fertilization rates. Importantly, the metabolic profiles of sperm from male mice treated with polystyrene showed significant disruption, including alterations in metabolic pathways associated with DNA damage repair. This disruption is also associated with impairments in the embryonic apoptosis pathway and DNA damage-related pathways during the 2-cell stage. Overall, polystyrene caused changes in the expression profile of male germ cells, affecting sperm motility and metabolic levels, which in turn led to disruption of embryonic expression and reduced the quality of embryonic development.