吸烟对生育能力及后代影响的研究进展

吸烟对男性生殖健康的影响一直没有得到足够的重视,对子代影响的研究更是寥寥无几。我们团队近十年的研究证实,吸烟会破坏睾丸的正常结构,改变睾丸和附睾中蛋白质表达谱,影响精子的发生和正常的成熟,甚至也会改变精子的运动能力,影响最终的生育能力。而对于电子香烟的主要成分尼古丁,暴露后的小鼠其睾丸中涉及细胞运动调节过程和三羧酸循环中重要蛋白的表达水平发生变化,同时抑制了附睾中多元醇通路并导致精液中果糖浓度较低,运动能力上升能量供应不足,最终影响优质精子的受精能力。另外,我们还发现尼古丁暴露会改变精子中一些基因的甲基化水平,这些表观遗传的改变会印记到子代,最后对后代的精神健康和身体健康产生影响。

Hazardous effects of tobacco smoking on fertility and offspring

The hazardous effects of tobacco smoking on male fertility have not paid sufficient attention, and there are few studies on the influence of smoking on offspring. A nearly ten-year study by our team has confirmed that smoking can destroy the normal structure of the testes, alter the protein expression profiles in testis and epididymis, affect spermatogenesis and normal maturation, and even change the motility of sperm, affecting the ultimate fertility. Nicotine, the main component of e-cigarettes, induced changes in the expression of important proteins which involved in the regulation of cell movement and the Krebs cycle, while inhibiting the polyhydric pathway in the epididymis and causing lower concentrations of fructose in semen, which ultimately affected the fertilization ability of high-quality sperm. In addition, we also found that nicotine exposure alters the methylation level of some genes in sperm, and these epigenetic changes can be imprinted on offspring, and ultimately affect the mental and physical health of offspring.