2013 Volume 48 Issue 4 Pages 175-180
There has been no experimental study demonstrating the effects of airborne Asian sand dust (AASD) on the male reproductive function. The organic substances adsorbed onto AASD collected from the atmosphere of Iki-island in Japan were excluded by heat treatment at 360 °C for 30 min. The effects of AASD or heated-AASD (H-AASD) towards the male reproductive function were compared to murine lungs to investigate the role of organic substances. ICR mice were intratracheally administrated two kinds of AASD four times at 2-week intervals. The daily sperm production (DSP/g testis) in the H-AASD-exposed mice decreased by 11.4% , while the AASD-exposed mice decreased by 17.7%. Exposure to AASD decreased the sperm motility, progressive motility, curvilinear velocity (VCL) , amplitude of lateral head displacement (ALH) and beat cross frequency (BCF) (18.9% , 28.4% , 21.0% , 18.9% and 21.0% vs. control) . However, there were no significant decreases in the H-AASD-exposed mice. These results suggest that the sperm production fertility was aggravated by the two types of AASD along with the aggravated sperm quality AASD. However, there were no aggravated effects of H-AASD on the sperm quality. These two results suggest that the particle aggravated sperm production and the organic substances adsorbed onto AASD aggravate the sperm quality.
