Organophosphate Flame Retardants(OPFRS) Have The Potential To Induce Oxidative Stress And Endocrine Disruption

Triphenyl phosphate(TPP),tris(2-chloroethyl)phosphate(TCEP)and tris(2-butoxyethyl)phosphate(TBEP),frequently be detected in the environment,are the typical organophosphate flame retardants(OPFRs)widely used in daily life.As a new type of environmental pollutants,OPFRs have attracted growing attentions recently because of their extensive distribution around the world.Previous studies indicated that OPFRs had the potential to induce toxicity to organisms.Three typical OPFRs,TPP,TBEP and TCEP were chosen for studying effects of different concentrations OPFRs on cell viability and morphology of TM3.Then,the capabilities of OPFRs on inducing oxidative stress were evaluated by investigating the changes in related mRNA transcription levels and their respective enzyme activities.On the other hand,by comparing the alterations on testosterone(T)levels and gene expressions related to T synthesis after OPFRs exposure with/without hCG stimuli,the endocrine disruption effects of OPFRs were surveyed at the same time.Furthermore,adolescent male ICR mice were orally administrated with OPFRs for 5 weeks to study the toxic effects of OPFRs on oxidative stress and endocrine disruption in vivo.The results indicated that,three OPFRs exposure declined the cell viability and changed the morphology in a dose-dependent manner.Compared with the control group,antioxidant enzyme activities like SOD,CAT and GST in the OPFRs-exposure groups with high concentrations were notably changed as well as their respective gene expressions.In addition,OPFRs disturbed the transcriptions of main genes related to T synthesis and decreased the T levels in the medium.What's more,the inhibitions of OPFRs on the expression of T synthesis genes and T levels which were up-regulated by hCG were also found after co-treatment.Finally,the body,liver and testis weights of mice decreased significantly in high dose OPFRs-treated groups.The antioxidant enzyme activities and the mRNA levels of their respective genes in the high concentration groups changed remarkably as compared with those of the control group.Moreover,the expression levels of the main genes related to testosterone synthesis and T levels in the testes also decreased significantly in high concentration groups as compared with those of the control group.Taken together,these findings indicated that OPFRs can induce oxidative stress and alter steroidogenesis in organisms.