Impact of electronic-cigarette refill liquid on rat testis
Abstract
Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are becoming the fashionable alternative to decrease tobacco smoking, although their impact on health has not been fully assessed yet. The present study was designed to compare the impact of e-cigarette refill liquid (e-liquid) without nicotine to e-liquid with nicotine on rat testis. For this purpose, e-liquid with nicotine and e-liquid without nicotine (0.5 mg/kg of body weight) were administered to adult male Wistar rats via the intraperitoneally route during four weeks. Results showed that e-liquid with or without nicotine leads to diminished sperm density and viability, such as a decrease in testicular lactate dehydrogenase activity and testosterone level. Furthermore, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis identified a reduction in cytochrome P450 side-chain cleavage (P450 scc) and 17 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (17βHSD) mRNA level, two key enzymes of steroidogenesis. Following e-liquid exposure, histopathological examination showed alterations in testis tissue marked by germ cells desquamation, disorganization of the tubular contents of testis and cell deposits in seminiferous tubules. Finally, analysis of oxidative stress status pointed an outbreak of antioxidant enzyme activities such as superoxide dismutase, catalase and gluthatione-S-transferase, as well as an important increase in sulfhydril group content. Taken together, these results indicate that e-liquid per se induces toxicity in Wistar r…
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Exposed rats showed lower plasma testosterone levels.
“Exposed rats also showed lower plasma testosterone levels (El Golli et al., 2016;Rahali et al., 2018)”
From Use of e-cigarettes associated with lower sperm counts in a cross-sectional study of young men from the general population (2020) · cites this paper as El Golli et al., 2016
In adult rats, exposure to e-cigarette liquid with tobacco flavour, with or without nicotine, reduced sperm concentration and caused histopathological changes in the testes.
“Compared to controls, adult rats exposed to e-cigarette liquid with tobacco flavour with or without nicotine both showed reduced sperm concentration and histopathological changes in the testes suggesting adverse effects of the e-liquid per se.”
From Use of e-cigarettes associated with lower sperm counts in a cross-sectional study of young men from the general population (2020) · cites this paper as El Golli et al., 2016
Animal studies have shown that intraperitoneal exposure to e-cigarette liquids was associated with impaired testis function including decreased testosterone levels independent of containing nicotine or not.
“however, animal studies have shown that intraperitoneal exposure to e-cigarette liquids was associated with impaired testis function including decreased testosterone levels independent of containing nicotine or not (El Golli et al., 2016;Rahali et al., 2018).”
From Use of e-cigarettes associated with lower sperm counts in a cross-sectional study of young men from the general population (2020) · cites this paper as El Golli et al., 2016
Cites
The pathophysiology of cigarette smoking and cardiovascular disease
Ambrose, J. A., & Barua, R. S. (2004) · Journal of the American College of Cardiology · doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2003.12.047 · Cited by 2,394 · see citing works
Guidelines on nicotine dose selection for in vivo research
Matta, S. G., Balfour, D. J., Benowitz, N. L., Boyd, R. T., Buccafusco, J. J., Caggiula, A. R., Craig, C. R., Collins, A. C., Damaj, M. I., Donny, E. C., et al. (2007) · Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1007/s00213-006-0441-0 · Cited by 824 · see citing works
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Holmboe, S. A., Priskorn, L., Jensen, T. K., Skakkebaek, N. E., Andersson, A.-M., & Jørgensen, N. (2020) · Human Reproduction · doi:10.1093/humrep/deaa089 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
- Authors
- El Golli, N., Rahali, D., Jrad-Lamine, A., Dallagi, Y., Jallouli, M., Bdiri, Y., Ba, N., Lebret, M., Rosa, J. P., El May, M., & El Fazaa, S.
- Affiliations
- Department of Biology, LMBA (Laboratoire de Microbiologie et Molécules Actives), Faculty of Sciences, El Manar University
- Tunis El Manar University (TN)
- Inserm (FR)
- Laboratory of Histology-Embryology and Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar
- ORCID
- Rosa, J.P.
- Venue
- Toxicology Mechanisms and Methods
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2016-04-21
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 417-424
- ISSN
- 1537-6516 (ISSN-L)
- 1537-6524
- OpenAlex
- W2338870031
- Cited by
- 52
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 2
- FWCI
- 4.88
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Toxicology Mechanisms and Methods (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Ministère de l'Education Nationale, de l'Enseignement Superieur et de la Recherche
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Reproductive Medicine › Sperm and Testicular Function
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Smoking Behavior and Cessation
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Effects and risks of endocrine disrupting chemicals
- Keywords
- nicotine, testis, male reproductive toxicity, semen quality, steroidogenesis, cytochrome P450 side-chain cleavage, 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, oxidative stress, antioxidant enzymes, seminiferous tubules, germ cells
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Injections, Intraperitoneal, L-Lactate Dehydrogenase, Male, Nicotine, Sperm Count, Spermatozoa, Testis, Testosterone, Biomarkers, Rats, Wistar, Oxidative Stress, Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems
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