Episodic ozone exposure in Long-Evans rats has limited effects on cauda sperm motility and non-coding RNA populations.

The effects of air pollutants on the sperm ncRNA population have not been comprehensively studied, however, there is growing evidence that tobacco smoke exposure can alter the contents of mature sperm in both humans and rodents. Subsequently, we proposed that identification of specific ncRNA populations would reveal novel insights into the factors that may contribute to the hypothesized ozone-induced impairments in sperm quality. Overall design: Cauda sperm were collected from rats exposed to air or 0.4 ppm or 0.8 ppm ozone (n=8/group) for RNA isolation of non-coding RNAs. Samples were sequenced using the Illumina NextSeq 500 platform.