Hypobaric hypoxia causes low fecundity in zebrafish parents and impairment of skeletal development in zebrafish embryos and rat offspring

Chaobao Chen; Xin Wang; Yajuan Li; Tianwei Zhao; Huan Wang; Yunqi Gao; Yuanzhou Feng; Jing Wang; Lixin Shang; Yongan Wang; Baoquan Zhao; Wu Dong

doi:10.1016/j.reprotox.2024.108603

Hypobaric hypoxia causes low fecundity in zebrafish parents and impairment of skeletal development in zebrafish embryos and rat offspring

Reprod Toxicol. 2024 May 15:127:108603. doi: 10.1016/j.reprotox.2024.108603. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Chaobao Chen¹, Xin Wang², Yajuan Li³, Tianwei Zhao³, Huan Wang⁴, Yunqi Gao⁴, Yuanzhou Feng³, Jing Wang², Lixin Shang², Yongan Wang³, Baoquan Zhao⁵, Wu Dong⁶

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Toxicology and Medical Countermeasures, Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing 100850, China; Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Toxicant Monitoring and Toxicology, College of Animal Science and Technology, Inner Mongolia Minzu University, Tongliao 028000, China.
² Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Seventh Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100700, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Toxicology and Medical Countermeasures, Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing 100850, China.
⁴ Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Toxicant Monitoring and Toxicology, College of Animal Science and Technology, Inner Mongolia Minzu University, Tongliao 028000, China.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Toxicology and Medical Countermeasures, Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing 100850, China. Electronic address: baoquanzhao@126.com.
⁶ Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Toxicant Monitoring and Toxicology, College of Animal Science and Technology, Inner Mongolia Minzu University, Tongliao 028000, China. Electronic address: dongwu@imun.edu.cn.

PMID: 38759877
DOI: 10.1016/j.reprotox.2024.108603

Abstract

Hypobaric Hypoxia (HH) negatively affects the cardiovascular and respiratory systems as well as gonadal development and the therefore next generation. This study investigated the effects of HH on zebrafish and SD rats, by exposing them to a low-pressure environment at 6000 m elevation for 30 days to simulate high-altitude conditions. It was indicated that parental zebrafish reared amh under HH had increased embryo mortality, reduced hatchability, and abnormal cartilage development in the offspring. Furthermore, the HH-exposed SD rats had fewer reproductive cells and smaller litters. Moreover, the transcriptome analysis revealed the down-regulation of steroid hormone biosynthesis pathways. The expression of the gonad-associated genes (amh, pde8a, man2a2 and lhcgr), as well as the gonad and cartilage-related gene bmpr1a, were also down-regulated. In addition, Western blot analysis validated reduced bmpr1a protein expression in the ovaries of HH-treated rats. In summary, these data indicate the negative impact of HH on reproductive organs and offspring development, emphasizing the need for further research and precautions to protect future generations' health.

Keywords: Cartilage; Gonadal development; High-altitude; Hypobaric hypoxia; Low-pressure environment; Sprague Dawley rats; Zebrafish.