Reproductive impairment from exposure to complex chemical mixture relevant to human and dog - REPROMANDO

The long-term goal of this project is to facilitate the establishment of a non-experimental animal model in line with 3R principles. Humans and pet animals are exposed to similar indoor related chemical mixtures, constituting hundreds of chemicals.

Many of these chemicals are endocrine disruptors, altering the homeostasis of the body functions, including effects on the spermatogenesis.

In a previous study, we have exposed zebrafish embryos to a complex chemical mixture at human relevant levels, which individually were all below effect levels.

Even so, effects on lipid metabolism were observed and as lipids are involved in many processes, including spermatogenesis, we will further explore the effects from this mixture on sperm quality. The Sertoli and Leydig cells are located in the testicle and are essential for spermatogenesis.

For that purpose, commercial human Sertoli and Leydig cells will be exposed, and tissue from testes accessible from neutered pet dogs will be used to isolate and set up dog Sertoli and Leydig cell assays.

Our hypothesis is that pet dogs are suitable model organisms for reproductive toxicity in humans due to their similar chemical exposure and impaired sperm quality.

This will be demonstrated by identifying  interspecies commmonalities, and the causal-effect relationship will be strengthen by exploring relevant adverse outcome pathway networks. Consequently, REPROMANDO will assess chemical exposure linked reproductive health in both humans and dogs.