IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i17p11023-d905749.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Molecular Alterations and Severe Abnormalities in Spermatozoa of Young Men Living in the “Valley of Sacco River” (Latium, Italy): A Preliminary Study

Author

Listed:
  • Pasquale Perrone

    (Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cinthia, 21, 80126 Naples, Italy
    Department of Precision Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, 80138 Naples, Italy
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Gennaro Lettieri

    (Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cinthia, 21, 80126 Naples, Italy
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Carmela Marinaro

    (Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cinthia, 21, 80126 Naples, Italy)

  • Valentina Longo

    (Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems (IMM), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), 73100 Lecce, Italy)

  • Simonetta Capone

    (Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems (IMM), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), 73100 Lecce, Italy)

  • Angiola Forleo

    (Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems (IMM), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), 73100 Lecce, Italy)

  • Sebastiana Pappalardo

    (Reproduction and Fertility Center, Via A. Vitozzi, 50, 00128 Rome, Italy)

  • Luigi Montano

    (Andrology Unit and Service of Lifestyle Medicine in UroAndrology, Local Health Authority (ASL) Salerno, Coordination Unit of the Network for Environmental and Reproductive Health (EcoFoodFertility Project), Oliveto Citra Hospital, 84020 Oliveto Citra, Italy
    PhD Program in Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy)

  • Marina Piscopo

    (Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cinthia, 21, 80126 Naples, Italy)

Abstract

The Valley of Sacco River (VSR) (Latium, Italy) is an area with large-scale industrial chemical production that has led over time to significant contamination of soil and groundwater with various industrial pollutants, such as organic pesticides, dioxins, organic solvents, heavy metals, and particularly, volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In the present study, we investigated the potential impact of VOCs on the spermatozoa of healthy young males living in the VSR, given the prevalent presence of several VOCs in the semen of these individuals. To accomplish this, spermiograms were conducted followed by molecular analyses to assess the content of sperm nuclear basic proteins (SNBPs) in addition to the protamine-histone ratio and DNA binding of these proteins. We found drastic alterations in the spermatozoa of these young males living in the VSR. Alterations were seen in sperm morphology, sperm motility, sperm count, and protamine/histone ratios, and included significant reductions in SNBP–DNA binding capacity. Our results provide preliminary indications of a possible correlation between the observed alterations and the presence of specific VOCs.

Suggested Citation

  • Pasquale Perrone & Gennaro Lettieri & Carmela Marinaro & Valentina Longo & Simonetta Capone & Angiola Forleo & Sebastiana Pappalardo & Luigi Montano & Marina Piscopo, 2022. "Molecular Alterations and Severe Abnormalities in Spermatozoa of Young Men Living in the “Valley of Sacco River” (Latium, Italy): A Preliminary Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-18, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:17:p:11023-:d:905749
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/17/11023/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/17/11023/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Saher Sue Hammoud & David A. Nix & Haiying Zhang & Jahnvi Purwar & Douglas T. Carrell & Bradley R. Cairns, 2009. "Distinctive chromatin in human sperm packages genes for embryo development," Nature, Nature, vol. 460(7254), pages 473-478, July.
    2. Salvatore Raimondo & Mariacira Gentile & Giusy Esposito & Tommaso Gentile & Ida Ferrara & Claudia Crescenzo & Mariangela Palmieri & Felice Cuomo & Stefania De Filippo & Gennaro Lettieri & Marina Pisco, 2021. "Could Kallikrein-Related Serine Peptidase 3 Be an Early Biomarker of Environmental Exposure in Young Women?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-15, August.
    3. Luigi Montano & Francesco Donato & Pietro Massimiliano Bianco & Gennaro Lettieri & Antonino Guglielmino & Oriana Motta & Ian Marc Bonapace & Marina Piscopo, 2021. "Air Pollution and COVID-19: A Possible Dangerous Synergy for Male Fertility," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-21, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alessandra Gallo, 2022. "Reprotoxic Impact of Environment, Diet, and Behavior," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-20, January.
    2. Xuedi Zhang & Ju Peng & Menghua Wu & Angyang Sun & Xiangyu Wu & Jie Zheng & Wangfei Shi & Guanjun Gao, 2023. "Broad phosphorylation mediated by testis-specific serine/threonine kinases contributes to spermiogenesis and male fertility," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-20, December.
    3. Filomena Mazzeo & Rosaria Meccariello, 2023. "Cannabis and Paternal Epigenetic Inheritance," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(9), pages 1-14, April.
    4. Salvatore Raimondo & Mariacira Gentile & Giusy Esposito & Tommaso Gentile & Ida Ferrara & Claudia Crescenzo & Mariangela Palmieri & Felice Cuomo & Stefania De Filippo & Gennaro Lettieri & Marina Pisco, 2021. "Could Kallikrein-Related Serine Peptidase 3 Be an Early Biomarker of Environmental Exposure in Young Women?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-15, August.
    5. Carlos Olmeda-Gómez & Carlos Romá-Mateo & Maria-Antonia Ovalle-Perandones, 2019. "Overview of trends in global epigenetic research (2009–2017)," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 119(3), pages 1545-1574, June.
    6. Ariane Lismer & Sarah Kimmins, 2023. "Emerging evidence that the mammalian sperm epigenome serves as a template for embryo development," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-22, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:17:p:11023-:d:905749. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.