Journal article
Exposure of mice to environmentally relevant per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) alters the sperm epigenome
Communications Biology, Vol.8, pp.1-20
2025
PMCID: PMC12568938
PMID: 41152411
Abstract
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a large group of persistent synthetic chemicals and ubiquitous environmental contaminants. Mounting evidence demonstrates that PFAS can bioaccumulate and induce adverse health outcomes, including compromising male reproduction. Despite this, the mechanisms by which PFAS elicits these effects remain unclear. Here, we investigate how an environmentally relevant PFAS cocktail impacts the reproductive function of male Swiss CD1 mice. Following twelve weeks of continuous exposure, we collected blood samples for hormone and PFAS quantification and processed reproductive tissues and spermatozoa for histological and functional assessment. PFAS exposure significantly reduced the rate of daily sperm production, likely due to decreased circulating testosterone and dihydrotestosterone. Further, PFAS-exposed spermatozoa displayed marked alterations to their small non-coding RNA profile, which were linked to dysregulation of early-embryonic gene expression. Notably, these changes occured without significant alteration in sperm viability, motility, or the ability to undergo capacitation or support embryonic development. These findings provide new mechanistic insight into how PFAS exposure impacts male reproductive health.
Details
- Title
- Exposure of mice to environmentally relevant per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) alters the sperm epigenome
- Authors
- Leah Gillespie - Hunter Medical Research InstituteJacinta H. Martin (Corresponding Author) - University of Newcastle AustraliaAmanda L. Anderson - University of Newcastle AustraliaIlana R. Bernstein - University of Newcastle AustraliaSimone J. Stanger - University of Newcastle AustraliaNatalie A. Trigg - University of Newcastle AustraliaJohn E. Schjenken - University of Newcastle AustraliaAnne-Louise Gannon - Hunter Medical Research InstituteShanu Parameswaran - Hunter Medical Research InstituteShannon P. Smyth - University of Newcastle AustraliaColin C. Conine - Children's Hospital of PhiladelphiaReena Desai - Anzac Research InstituteDavid J. Handelsman - Anzac Research InstituteGeoffry N. De Iuliis - University of Newcastle AustraliaAndrew L. Eamens - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Health - BiomedicineMatthew D. Dun - Hunter Medical Research InstituteBrett D. Turner - University of Technology SydneyShaun D. Roman - New South Wales Department of HealthMark P. Green - The University of MelbourneBrett Nixon - University of Newcastle Australia
- Publication details
- Communications Biology, Vol.8, pp.1-20
- Publisher
- Nature Publishing Group
- Date published
- 2025
- DOI
- 10.1038/s42003-025-08865-4
- ISSN
- 2399-3642
- PMID
- 41152411; PMC12568938
- Copyright note
- This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
- Data Availability
- The gene expression datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are available in the Gene Expression Omnibus repository with accession number GSE271479. Further data that support the findings of this study, including the numerical source data for graphs and charts are available in the Supplementary Data. Any additional information is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
- Grants
- Organisation Unit
- School of Health - Biomedicine
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991175217002621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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