Is the Air We're Breathing Reducing Sperm Counts? Scientists Think So
upstart writes:
Is the air we're breathing reducing sperm counts? Scientists think so:
Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) have shown how air pollution reduces sperm count in mice, by causing inflammation in the brain.
[...] The whole team of researchers, composed of Ying, Lianglin Qiu, Minjie Chen, Xiaoke Wang and Sufang Chen, tested healthy mice and mice bred without a marker of inflammation in the brain called Inhibitor Kappa B Kinase 2, or IKK2.
Exposing both healthy and IKK2 mutant mice to polluted air, they observed the effects and then tested their sperm counts.
The outcome was clear: the mice bred without the IKK2 inflammation marker in their neurons did not see any reduction in their sperm counts, unlike the healthy mice.
As a second step in the study, the researchers then removed IKK2 markers from specific neurons in order to determine more precisely how air pollution was leading to lower sperm counts.
They found that one specific kind of neuron typically associated with the sleep cycle and obesity was responsible for the reduced sperm count due to air pollution.
These neurons are typically found in the hypothalamus, the part of the brain which controls hunger, thirst, and sex drive.
The hypothalamus also works with the brain's pituitary gland, which makes hormones that communicate directly with reproductive organs.
Journal Reference:
Lianglin Qiu, Minjie Chen, Xiaoke Wang, et al. PM2.5 Exposure of Mice during Spermatogenesis: A Role of Inhibitor B Kinase 2 in Pro-Opiomelanocortin Neurons, Environmental Health Perspectives (DOI: https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/EHP8868)
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