Fundamental Toxicological Sciences

Paper Details

Fundamental Toxicological Sciences
Vol. 1 No. 3 October 28, 2014 p.81-85
Letter
Hazardous effects of titanium dioxide nanoparticles on testicular function in mice
  • Nobuhiko Miura (Division of Health Effects Research, Japan National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health / miuran@h.jniosh.go.jp)
Nobuhiko Miura 1) , Katsumi Ohtani 2) , Tatsuya Hasegawa 3) , Rieko Hojo 1) , Yukie Yanagiba 1) , Tetsuya Suzuki 1) , Megumi Suda 1) , Rui-Sheng Wang 1)
1) Division of Health Effects Research, Japan National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health , 2) Division of Hazard Evaluation and Epidemiology, National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health Japan , 3) Division of Human Environmental Science, Mount Fuji Research Institute, Yamanashi Prefectural Government
Keywords: Titanium dioxide nanoparticles, Testicular function, Sperm head numbers, CASA (computer-assisted sperm analysis)
Abstracts

It has been reported that titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) show toxicity in organs such as liver, lung, and intestine. There is, however, only a limited number of reports regarding the effect of TiO2 NPs on the male reproductive system. We examined the effect of TiO2 NPs on testicular function using mouse model. TiO2 NPs (Aeroxide P25) were evenly dispersed in disodium phosphate solution by sonication. Mice were treated intravenously with TiO2 NPs (0, 2, or 10 mg/kg body weight) once per week for four weeks followed by sacrificing nine days after the last injection. The sperm head numbers and two sperm motion parameters, motile percent (MP) and progressive percent (PP), in the cauda epididymis were evaluated. TiO2 NPs significantly reduced the sperm head numbers in the cauda epididymis and testis, further, the motility ratios of both MP and PP. These results indicated that TiO2 NPs may possess hazardous effects on testicular function in mice.