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Wang Y, Pattarawat P, Zhang J, Kim E, Zhang D, Fang M, Jannaman EA, Yuan Y, Chatterjee S, Kim JYJ, Scott GI, Zhang Q, Xiao S. Effects of Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Bloom Toxin Microcystin-LR on Gonadotropin-Dependent Ovarian Follicle Maturation and Ovulation in Mice. Environ Health Perspect 2023; 131:67010. [PMID: 37342990 PMCID: PMC10284350 DOI: 10.1289/ehp12034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2022] [Revised: 03/28/2023] [Accepted: 05/19/2023] [Indexed: 06/23/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (CyanoHABs) originate from the excessive growth or bloom of cyanobacteria often referred to as blue-green algae. They have been on the rise globally in both marine and freshwaters in recently years with increasing frequency and severity owing to the rising temperature associated with climate change and increasing anthropogenic eutrophication from agricultural runoff and urbanization. Humans are at a great risk of exposure to toxins released from CyanoHABs through drinking water, food, and recreational activities, making CyanoHAB toxins a new class of contaminants of emerging concern. OBJECTIVES We investigated the toxic effects and mechanisms of microcystin-LR (MC-LR), the most prevalent CyanoHAB toxin, on the ovary and associated reproductive functions. METHODS Mouse models with either chronic daily oral or acute intraperitoneal exposure, an engineered three-dimensional ovarian follicle culture system, and human primary ovarian granulosa cells were tested with MC-LR of various dose levels. Single-follicle RNA sequencing, reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, western blotting, immunohistochemistry (IHC), and benchmark dose modeling were used to examine the effects of MC-LR on follicle maturation, hormone secretion, ovulation, and luteinization. RESULTS Mice exposed long term to low-dose MC-LR did not exhibit any differences in the kinetics of folliculogenesis, but they had significantly fewer corpora lutea compared with control mice. Superovulation models further showed that mice exposed to MC-LR during the follicle maturation window had significantly fewer ovulated oocytes. IHC results revealed ovarian distribution of MC-LR, and mice exposed to MC-LR had significantly lower expression of key follicle maturation mediators. Mechanistically, in both murine and human granulosa cells exposed to MC-LR, there was reduced protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) activity, disrupted PP1-mediated PI3K/AKT/FOXO1 signaling, and less expression of follicle maturation-related genes. DISCUSSION Using both in vivo and in vitro murine and human model systems, we provide data suggesting that environmentally relevant exposure to the CyanoHAB toxin MC-LR interfered with gonadotropin-dependent follicle maturation and ovulation. We conclude that MC-LR may pose a nonnegligible risk to women's reproductive health by heightening the probability of irregular menstrual cycles and infertility related to ovulatory disorders. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP12034.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yingzheng Wang
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
- Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Center for Oceans and Human Health and Climate Change Interactions at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA
- Center for Environmental Exposures and Disease, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
| | - Pawat Pattarawat
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
- Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
| | - Jiyang Zhang
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
- Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
| | - Eunchong Kim
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
- Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
| | - Delong Zhang
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
- Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
| | - Mingzhu Fang
- New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Trenton, New Jersey, USA
| | | | - Ye Yuan
- Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine, Lone Tree, Colorado, USA
| | - Saurabh Chatterjee
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California, USA
- Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California, USA
| | - Ji-Yong Julie Kim
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Geoffrey I. Scott
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Center for Oceans and Human Health and Climate Change Interactions at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA
| | - Qiang Zhang
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Shuo Xiao
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
- Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Center for Oceans and Human Health and Climate Change Interactions at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA
- Center for Environmental Exposures and Disease, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
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Critchley HOD, Babayev E, Bulun SE, Clark S, Garcia-Grau I, Gregersen PK, Kilcoyne A, Kim JYJ, Lavender M, Marsh EE, Matteson KA, Maybin JA, Metz CN, Moreno I, Silk K, Sommer M, Simon C, Tariyal R, Taylor HS, Wagner GP, Griffith LG. Menstruation: science and society. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2020; 223:624-664. [PMID: 32707266 PMCID: PMC7661839 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajog.2020.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 102] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2020] [Revised: 05/13/2020] [Accepted: 06/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Women's health concerns are generally underrepresented in basic and translational research, but reproductive health in particular has been hampered by a lack of understanding of basic uterine and menstrual physiology. Menstrual health is an integral part of overall health because between menarche and menopause, most women menstruate. Yet for tens of millions of women around the world, menstruation regularly and often catastrophically disrupts their physical, mental, and social well-being. Enhancing our understanding of the underlying phenomena involved in menstruation, abnormal uterine bleeding, and other menstruation-related disorders will move us closer to the goal of personalized care. Furthermore, a deeper mechanistic understanding of menstruation-a fast, scarless healing process in healthy individuals-will likely yield insights into a myriad of other diseases involving regulation of vascular function locally and systemically. We also recognize that many women now delay pregnancy and that there is an increasing desire for fertility and uterine preservation. In September 2018, the Gynecologic Health and Disease Branch of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development convened a 2-day meeting, "Menstruation: Science and Society" with an aim to "identify gaps and opportunities in menstruation science and to raise awareness of the need for more research in this field." Experts in fields ranging from the evolutionary role of menstruation to basic endometrial biology (including omic analysis of the endometrium, stem cells and tissue engineering of the endometrium, endometrial microbiome, and abnormal uterine bleeding and fibroids) and translational medicine (imaging and sampling modalities, patient-focused analysis of menstrual disorders including abnormal uterine bleeding, smart technologies or applications and mobile health platforms) to societal challenges in health literacy and dissemination frameworks across different economic and cultural landscapes shared current state-of-the-art and future vision, incorporating the patient voice at the launch of the meeting. Here, we provide an enhanced meeting report with extensive up-to-date (as of submission) context, capturing the spectrum from how the basic processes of menstruation commence in response to progesterone withdrawal, through the role of tissue-resident and circulating stem and progenitor cells in monthly regeneration-and current gaps in knowledge on how dysregulation leads to abnormal uterine bleeding and other menstruation-related disorders such as adenomyosis, endometriosis, and fibroids-to the clinical challenges in diagnostics, treatment, and patient and societal education. We conclude with an overview of how the global agenda concerning menstruation, and specifically menstrual health and hygiene, are gaining momentum, ranging from increasing investment in addressing menstruation-related barriers facing girls in schools in low- to middle-income countries to the more recent "menstrual equity" and "period poverty" movements spreading across high-income countries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hilary O D Critchley
- Medical Research Council Centre for Reproductive Health, The University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
| | - Elnur Babayev
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
| | - Serdar E Bulun
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
| | | | - Iolanda Garcia-Grau
- Igenomix Foundation-Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Hospital Clínico, INCLIVA, Valencia, Spain; Department of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
| | - Peter K Gregersen
- The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, Northwell Health, Manhasset, NY
| | | | | | | | - Erica E Marsh
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI
| | - Kristen A Matteson
- Division of Research, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Women and Infants Hospital, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI
| | - Jacqueline A Maybin
- Medical Research Council Centre for Reproductive Health, The University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Christine N Metz
- The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, Northwell Health, Manhasset, NY
| | - Inmaculada Moreno
- Igenomix Foundation-Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Hospital Clínico, INCLIVA, Valencia, Spain
| | - Kami Silk
- Department of Communication, University of Delaware, Newark, DE
| | - Marni Sommer
- Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY
| | - Carlos Simon
- Igenomix Foundation-Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Hospital Clínico, INCLIVA, Valencia, Spain; Department of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain; Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard University, Boston, MA; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
| | | | - Hugh S Taylor
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
| | - Günter P Wagner
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Systems Biology Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
| | - Linda G Griffith
- Center for Gynepathology Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
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