Semen quality and reproductive health of young Czech men exposed to seasonal air pollution.

This study of male reproductive health in the Czech Republic resulted from community concern about potential adverse effects of air pollution. We compared young men (18 years of age) living in Teplice, a highly industrialized district with seasonally elevated levels of air pollution, to those from Prachatice, a rural district with relatively clean air. Surveys were scheduled for either late winter, after the season of higher air pollution, or at the end of summer, when pollution was low. Participation included a physical examination, donation of a semen sample, and completion of a questionnaire on health, personal habits, and exposure to solvents and metals through work or hobby. Analysis of data from 408 volunteers showed that the men from Teplice and Prachatice were similar in physical characteristics, personal habits, and work- or hobby-related exposures. Sixty-six percent (272) of these men donated a single semen sample for routine semen analysis, computer-aided sperm motion analysis, and sperm chromatin structure assay. The mean (median) sperm concentration and sperm count were 61. 2 (44.0) million/mL semen and 113.3 (81.5) million, respectively, and were not associated with district of residence or period of elevated air pollution. However, periods of elevated air pollution in Teplice were significantly associated with decrements in other semen measures including proportionately fewer motile sperm, proportionately fewer sperm with normal morphology or normal head shape, and proportionately more sperm with abnormal chromatin. These results suggest that young men may experience alterations in sperm quality after exposure to periods of elevated air pollution, without changes in sperm numbers.

[Air pollution and sperm quality]. / Znecistení ovzdusí a kvalita spermií.

BACKGROUND: It has been described that an exposition of males to chemical substances may significantly impoverish quality and quantity of produced spermatozoa. The aim of our study was to test whether the polluted air in the Teplice district has negative effects on the quality of sperm of males living in this district. METHODS AND RESULTS: 325 males 18-year-old living in the Teplice district and in the control district of Prachatice were tested. Samples were taken in 1992 and 1994, always at the end of winter and in autumn. According to WHO laboratory manual for investigation of the human sperm, basic parameters were determined: volume of the semen, pH, motility, number and morphology of spermatozoa. In selected groups of males the frequency of aneuploidia of spermatozoa was also examined. Examination of aneuploidia was done using three color fluorescence in situ hybridisation with satellite DNA proves specific for X, Z and 8 chromosomes. Logistic regression was used for the data analysis and Odd's Ratio was estimated (OR's). OR's was found for the morphology of spermatozoa (4.1 and 10.1 for medium and high exposition respectively), for the head morphology (6.1 and 4.1) and in the percentage of motile spermatozoa (9.8 and 3.5). More intensively exposed males had higher frequency of disomy in chromosomes X (p = 0.012), XY (p = 0.01), and Y (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Bio-indicators of toxic and genetic impairment have shown lower quality of sperm in males in Teplice district.

Dairy cattle as a bioindicator of exposure to genotoxic substances in a heavily polluted area in northern Bohemia.

The exposure of dairy cattle to genotoxic agents in two districts with different levels of environmental pollution was estimated using cytogenetic analysis of bovine peripheral lymphocytes. The Teplice district represented an industrialized area where the air pollution rate is extremely high mainly in the winter, and the Prachatice district--an agricultural area with a relatively low level of pollution. The Ames test was used to examine feed samples for the content of mutagenic substances. Cows in the Teplice district showed a significantly higher count of aberrant cells (4.83 +/- 2.36) than cows in the Prachatice district (3.63 +/- 2.12). The sum of revertants induced by rinsings or extracts of feeds in both of the two test strains (Salmonella typhimurium TA 98 and TA 100) was significantly higher in the district of Teplice than in the district of Prachatice. The percentages of findings with mutagenic responses were 56.3 and 34.8% for the districts of Teplice and Prachatice, respectively. No mutagenic activity was found in milk samples collected in any of the districts. Apparently, the cows kept in the Teplice district were more exposed to genotoxic substances than the cows in the Prachatice district. The major source of this exposure was probably fresh fodder contaminated by industrial emissions.

A new Robertsonian translocation in cattle, rob(16;20).

A new centric fusion translocation, rob(16;20), was discovered in a phenotypically normal bull. C-banding revealed the dicentric nature of this centric fusion. This bull is a descendant of a German red pied bull and a Czechoslovakian red pied cow. Its mother and 26 half-brothers had normal karyotypes, indicating that this translocation arose "de novo".

Cytogenetic monitoring of farm animals under conditions of environmental pollution.

Cytogenetic examinations were carried out in 13 cattle farms, two herds of horses, one stag farm and 13 pig farms in areas with different levels of environmental contamination. The frequency of aberrant cells per 100 mitoses was 3.67 +/- 1.89 in pigs (n = 260) and 4.16 +/- 2.4 in herbivores (n = 497). This is a significant difference (p < 0.01). Ten times higher frequencies of chromatid exchanges were found in pigs. The examined herds were classified into three groups by the level of environmental contamination (satisfactory, impaired and severely impaired environment). Significant differences in aberrant cell counts were recorded between the groups of herbivorous animals. Significant differences in pigs were recorded only between herds in satisfactory and severely impaired environments. Significantly higher frequencies of aberrant cells were found in farms of herbivorous animals in the industrial area of Pardubice compared with findings in the South Moravian agricultural area (4.7% and 3.1% respectively). The effect of local contamination sources on farm environment was also investigated. A cattle farm located in the vicinity of a large chemical plant was examined five times at 6-month intervals. An autumn examination revealed significantly higher frequencies of aberrant cells compared with the spring examination.

Somatic chromosome mutations and morphological abnormalities in sperms of boars.

Frequencies of chromosomally aberrant peripheral blood lymphocytes and morphologically abnormal spermatozoa were investigated in 10 boars from each of 11 A.I. centres. Highly significant differences were found between A.I. centres concerning both chromosomally aberrant cells and morphologically abnormal sperms. A significant correlation was found for the overall frequency of aberrant lymphocytes and morphologically abnormal sperms in A.I. centres. The coefficient of correlation was 0.675 (p = 0.022). No significant correlation was found when the 110 boars were evaluated regardless of the A.I. centre.

[Asymmetry of the digits in pigs as a hereditarily conditioned variation in the anatomic structure of the extremities]. / Asymetrie spárku prasat, dedicne podmínená odchylka anatomické stavby koncetin.

As follows from the population statistical investigation performed within the management information system, defects of the anatomic structure of the feet occur in the pig population of all breeds and cross combinations kept in the Czech Socialist Republic: the frequency of this occurrence is relatively higher than 4.4% (1984) and 3.8% (1985) of all litters affected by some of the genetic defects. In some populations different degrees of claw asymmetry occur in more than 40% of the individuals. Environmental conditions contribute to the severity of the defect (technology, particularly the type of floor), but the disposition is genetically conditioned. Prevention should mainly be based on the negative selection of the carriers of the undesired disposition. Working on this study, we used the results of the population statistical processing of the reports on the hereditary defects of pigs and the results of our own observations. In the former case the data concerned 29,778 pig litters, in the latter case 7343 pigs of the Large White, Landrace, Duroc and Prestice Black-Pied breeds.