Acute and sub-acute bisphenol-B exposures adversely affect sperm count and quality in adolescent male mice

Bisphenol-B (BPB), an analogue of bisphenol-A is used in the plastic industry. It has been found to leach from plastic containers leading to its contamination in canned food products. Moreover, it has also been detected in human samples such as sera and urine. BPB is recognized as a potential endocrine disrupting chemical owing to its estrogenic and anti-androgenic nature. Therefore, it was pertinent to study the effect of BPB exposure during the adolescence age (5-6 weeks old) in male mice. Weekly intraperitoneal injections of 5, 10 and 15% LD₅₀ of BPB were given for 2 weeks to acute exposure groups and for 4 weeks to sub-acute exposure groups. BPB exposure induces change in enzymatic and non-enzymatic oxidative stress markers in sperm samples. DNA damage was also observed in sperm cells on acute and sub-acute exposures. Furthermore, BPB exposure led to a marked decline in sperm count and compromised sperm morphology. Computer assisted sperm analysis (CASA) revealed a significant decrease in sperm quality and progressive motility. Thus, both the acute and sub-acute exposures of adolescent male mice to BPB adversely affect the sperms' quality, functions and morphology.