Pesticides, insecticides and male infertility

Authors

  • Priyanka Roy Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Assam Medical College and Hospital, Dibrugarh, Assam, India
  • Pranay Kumar Phukan Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Assam Medical College and Hospital, Dibrugarh, Assam, India
  • Debojit Changmai Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Assam Medical College and Hospital, Dibrugarh, Assam, India
  • Surajeet Boruah Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Assam Medical College and Hospital, Dibrugarh, Assam, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-1770.ijrcog20173448

Keywords:

Insecticides, Male infertility, Pesticides

Abstract

Background: Pesticides, insecticides can damage the male reproductive system in a number of ways. They may cause reproductive toxicity with direct damage to the structure of the cells or as a result of biotransformation into metabolites. They can alter DNA structure. They may also act like hormones in the endocrine system and disrupt the function of the natural endogenous hormones, when doing so they are often called endocrine disrupting chemicals. The objective of the study was to evaluate the association of infertility with pesticide and insecticide exposure among the infertile male patients attending Out Patient Department of Assam Medical College and Hospital.

Methods: The pesticides and insecticides used by the population were cypermethrin, thiaclopride, acetamiprid, emmacetin benzoate A total of 55 oligospermic infertile male patients were taken for the study. Twenty-seven among them were exposed to pesticides and rest twenty-eight unexposed cases were taken as control group. Semen analysis was done along with serum FSH, LH and Testosterone. Scrotal ultrasonography of the subjects was also done. One way ANOVA test and t-test assuming two unequal variances were applied to find out the statistical significance of the association of pesticides with their infertility. p<0.05 was taken to be significant.

Results: A significant decrease in sperm concentration was found in the exposed group. Also, a significant increase in serum LH was found in the exposed group. A significant decrease in sperm concentration and serum testosterone along with a significant increase in serum FSH and LH was found with increase in duration of exposure to pesticides and insecticides.

Conclusions: The gonadotoxic effect of pesticides and insecticides was reflected from the study and it was concluded that pesticide and insecticide exposure has got a definite relation with the infertility of the subjects evaluated in the study.

References

Wangnoo KS. Evaluation of Male Infertility. J Int Med Sc Acad. 2010;23(2):107-9.

WHO Pesticide Evaluation Scheme (WHOPES). WHO/Pesticides; 2017. Available at www.who.int.2017.

Schafer K. Pesticides and male infertility: harm from the womb through adulthood-- and into the next generation. Environmental Health Policy Institute. (PSR); 2010.

Meeker DJ. Pyrethroid insecticide metabolites are associated with serum hormone levels in adult men. Reprod Toxicol. 2009;27(2):155-60.

Straub L, Villamar-Bouza L, Bruckner S, Chantawannakul P, Gauthier L, Khongphinitbunjong K, et al. Neonicotinoid insecticides can serve as inadvertent insect contraceptives. In Proc. R. Soc. B. 2016;283(1835):20160506. The Royal Society.

Khaldoun H. subacute toxicological effects of emamectine benzoate on wistar rat testes. J Internat Scientific Publicat. Agriculture Food. 2015;3:1314-8591.

Toxicological profile for pyrethrins and pyrethroids. Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry. (ATSDR). Atlanta, GA: US. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service; 2003.

Jurewicz J. The effect of environmental exposure to pyrethroids and DNA damage in human sperm. Syst Biol Reprod Med. 2015; 61(1):37-43.

Evamarie. Disruption of male sex hormones with regard to pesticides: pathophysiological and regulatory aspects. Toxicol Lett. 1999;107: 225-31.

Singhet AK. A Current Review of Cypermethrin-Induced Neurotoxicity and Nigrostriatal Dopaminergic Neurodegeneration. Curr Neuropharmacol. 2012;10(1):64-71.

Zalata A, Elhanbly S, Abdalla H, Serria MS, Aziz A, El‐Dakrooy SA, El‐Bakary AA, et al. In vitro study of cypermethrin on human spermatozoa and the possible protective role of vitamins C and E. Andrologia. 2014;46(10):1141-7.

Fang YL. effects of cypermethrin on male reproductive system in adult rats. Biomed Environ Sci. 2013;26(3):201-8.

Gu YH, Li Y, Huang XF, Zheng JF, Yang J, Diao H, et al. Reproductive effects of two neonicotinoid insecticides on mouse sperm function and early embryonic development in vitro. PloS one. 2013;8(7):e70112.

Kaur RP, Gupta V, Christopher AF, Bansal P. Potential pathways of pesticide action on erectile function-A contributory factor in male infertility. Asian Pacific J Reproduct. 2015;4(4):322-30.

Galdíková M, Šiviková K, Holečková B, Dianovský J, Drážovská M, Schwarzbacherová V. The effect of thiacloprid formulation on DNA/chromosome damage and changes in GST activity in bovine peripheral lymphocytes. J Environment Sci Health, Part B. 2015;50(10):698-707.

Downloads

Published

2017-07-26

Issue

Section

Original Research Articles