Gasoline exhaust damages spermatogenesis through downregulating α6‐integrin and β1‐integrin in the rat model

The health influence of air pollution has been an international public health concern. Increasing evidence has suggested that air pollution has been associated with decreased sperm quality. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms are still not fully elucidated. We aimed to verify whether gasoline exhaust leads to reproductive impairment by injuring spermatogonial stem cells and explore its underlying molecular mechanism. Twenty male Sprague‐Dawley rats were randomly divided into two groups: the exposure group (n = 10) and the control group (n = 10). After 6‐month exposure, the sperm count and morphology were determined. The histological changes in the seminiferous tubules were examined by HE staining. The expression of α6‐integrin and β1 ‐ integrin was assessed with Quantitative RT‐PCR, Western blot and Immunohistochemical staining. Compared with control group, male rats exposed to gasoline exhaust showed significantly reduced sperm count, increased sperm abnormality rate and the total number of spermatogonia, primary spermatocytes, secondary spermatocytes, spermatids were decreased. (all p < .01). The expression levels of α6‐integrin and β1 ‐ integrin in the exposure group were significantly lower than those in the control group (all p < .01). Our study showed that exposure to gasoline exhaust caused impairment to spermatogonial stem cells through downregulating α6‐integrin and β1 ‐ integrin.