Lead exposure causes generation of reactive oxygen species and functional impairment in rat sperm.

The relationships between blood lead, sperm lead, sperm reactive oxygen species (ROS) level, and sperm fertile capability were investigated to understand the effects of lead exposure on sperm function and the mechanism of these effects. Male Sprague-Dawley rats, 7 weeks old, were randomly divided into control group and lead-treated group. The controls and lead-treated animals received intraperitoneal injection of 10 mg sodium acetate and 10 mg lead acetate/kg body weight, respectively, weekly for 6 or 9 weeks. The blood lead and epididymal sperm lead were analyzed by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Chemiluminescence was measured to evaluate the generation of sperm ROS. Sperm-oocyte penetration rate (SOPR) was measured to evaluate sperm function. After 6 weeks of lead exposure, the rats had average blood lead levels of 32 microg/dl, sperm lead levels of 0.67 +/- 0.11 microg/10(9) sperm, unchanged epididymal sperm counts, percent of motile sperms, and motile epididymal sperm counts compared with control animals. However, after 9 weeks of lead exposure, the rats had average blood lead levels of 48.0 +/- 4.3 microg/dl, sperm lead levels of 0.88 +/- 0.16 microg/10(9) sperm, statistically lower epididymal sperm counts, and lower motile epididymal sperm counts. There was a good correlation between the blood lead and sperm lead(r2 = 0.946, P < 0.001). The sperms of lead-exposed rats produced significantly higher counts ofchemiluminescence than did those from the control rats (P < 0.001). The chemiluminescence counts were positively associated with sperm lead level (r2 = 0.613, P < 0.001). Epididymal sperm counts, motility and motile epididymal sperm counts were negatively associated with sperm chemiluminescence (r2 = 0.255, 0.152, and 0.299; P < 0.01, 0.05, and 0.01, respectively). The SOPR were positively associated with epididymal sperm counts, motility and motile epididymal sperm counts (r2 = 0.136, 0.285, and 0.264; P < 0.05, 0.01, and 0.001, respectively). The sperm chemiluminescence was negatively associated with SOPR (r2 = 0.519, P < 0.001). It is concluded that lead exposure probably affected the sperm function by activating one of the pathways of ROS generation.