Academic Journal
Benzalkonium chlorides compromise oocyte maturation and developmental competence by disrupting mitochondrial function and the SIRT3-SOD2 antioxidant axis.
| Τίτλος: | Benzalkonium chlorides compromise oocyte maturation and developmental competence by disrupting mitochondrial function and the SIRT3-SOD2 antioxidant axis. |
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| Συγγραφείς: | Lay K; College of Animal Science and Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, Key Laboratory of Local Livestock and Poultry Genetical Resource Conservation and Breeding of Anhui Province, Hefei 230036, China., Zhang D; Department of Reproductive Medicine, Wanbei Coal and Electricity Group General Hospital, Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine and Embryo of Suzhou city, Suzhou 234000, China., Wang H; College of Animal Science and Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, Key Laboratory of Local Livestock and Poultry Genetical Resource Conservation and Breeding of Anhui Province, Hefei 230036, China., Li M; College of Animal Science and Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, Key Laboratory of Local Livestock and Poultry Genetical Resource Conservation and Breeding of Anhui Province, Hefei 230036, China., Zhang Y; College of Animal Science and Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, Key Laboratory of Local Livestock and Poultry Genetical Resource Conservation and Breeding of Anhui Province, Hefei 230036, China., Xu Q; College of Animal Science and Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, Key Laboratory of Local Livestock and Poultry Genetical Resource Conservation and Breeding of Anhui Province, Hefei 230036, China., Jia B; College of Animal Science and Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, Key Laboratory of Local Livestock and Poultry Genetical Resource Conservation and Breeding of Anhui Province, Hefei 230036, China., Nguyen T; Branch of Animal Husbandry, Veterinary Medicine and Fisheries in Binh Duong Province, Vietnam., Ren C; College of Animal Science and Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, Key Laboratory of Local Livestock and Poultry Genetical Resource Conservation and Breeding of Anhui Province, Hefei 230036, China., Zhou X; Department of Reproductive Medicine, Wanbei Coal and Electricity Group General Hospital, Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine and Embryo of Suzhou city, Suzhou 234000, China., Tang H; Department of Reproductive Medicine, Wanbei Coal and Electricity Group General Hospital, Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine and Embryo of Suzhou city, Suzhou 234000, China., Ling Y; College of Animal Science and Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, Key Laboratory of Local Livestock and Poultry Genetical Resource Conservation and Breeding of Anhui Province, Hefei 230036, China., Wu M; School of Biology and Food Engineering, Hefei Normal University, Hefei 230061, China., Gao Y; School of Biology and Food Engineering, Hefei Normal University, Hefei 230061, China. Electronic address: gaoyang@hfnu.edu.cn., Zhang M; College of Animal Science and Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, Key Laboratory of Local Livestock and Poultry Genetical Resource Conservation and Breeding of Anhui Province, Hefei 230036, China. Electronic address: zhangmianqun@ahau.edu.cn., Zhang Y; College of Animal Science and Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, Key Laboratory of Local Livestock and Poultry Genetical Resource Conservation and Breeding of Anhui Province, Hefei 230036, China. Electronic address: dkzyh@ahau.edu.cn. |
| Πηγή: | Animal reproduction science [Anim Reprod Sci] 2026 Jun; Vol. 289, pp. 108163. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Mar 03. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: Elsevier Scientific Pub. Co Country of Publication: Netherlands NLM ID: 7807205 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1873-2232 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 03784320 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Anim Reprod Sci Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Original Publication: Amsterdam, Elsevier Scientific Pub. Co. |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Mitochondria*/drug effects , Mitochondria*/physiology , Oocytes*/drug effects , Benzalkonium Compounds*/toxicity , Superoxide Dismutase*/metabolism , Superoxide Dismutase*/genetics , Sirtuin 3*/metabolism , Sirtuin 3*/genetics, In Vitro Oocyte Maturation Techniques/veterinary ; Antioxidants/metabolism ; Oxidative Stress/drug effects ; Animals ; Female ; Swine ; Superoxide Dismutase 2 |
| Περίληψη: | Benzalkonium chlorides (BACs), a class of quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) widely used as disinfectants and preservatives, have increasingly replaced triclosan and triclocarban in personal care products following their global restriction. However, the potential reproductive toxicity of BACs remains largely unexplored. Notably, we investigated the effects of BACs exposure on porcine oocyte maturation and fertilization competence, as well as the underlying mitochondrial mechanisms. COCs were cultured under in vitro maturation (IVM) conditions for 44 h with 0.2-50.0 μg/mL BACs. BACs exposure markedly inhibited cumulus expansion, reduced first polar body extrusion, and impaired fertilization and early embryonic development in a dose-dependent manner. Cytological analysis revealed disrupted spindle assembly, decreased microtubule stability, and disorganized F-actin structures. BACs also caused abnormal cortical granule distribution, diminished Ovastacin expression, and reduced sperm-binding capacity. Mechanistically, BACs induced mitochondrial depolarization, reduced mitochondrial abundance, elevated mitochondrial ROS, and disrupted Ca²⁺ homeostasis, leading to oxidative stress, DNA damage, apoptosis, and autophagy-lysosomal imbalance. Further, BACs exposure suppressed the mitochondrial SIRT3-SOD2 antioxidant axis, while pharmacological activation of SIRT3 by UBCS039 or ROS scavenging with Mito-TEMPO partially rescued mitochondrial dysfunction and oocyte maturation defects. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that BACs exposure compromises oocyte quality and developmental competence via mitochondrial oxidative stress and SIRT3-SOD2 axis inhibition, providing new insights into the reproductive risks associated with emerging disinfectant contaminants. (Copyright © 2026 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.) |
| Competing Interests: | Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Antioxidant defense; Benzalkonium chloride (BACs); Mitochondrial dysfunction; Oocyte maturation; Redox imbalance; SIRT3-SOD2 axis |
| Substance Nomenclature: | 0 (Benzalkonium Compounds) EC 1.15.1.1 (Superoxide Dismutase) EC 1.15.1.1 (Superoxide Dismutase 2) EC 3.5.1.- (Sirtuin 3) 0 (Antioxidants) |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260315 Date Completed: 20260711 Latest Revision: 20260711 |
| Update Code: | 20260711 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.anireprosci.2026.108163 |
| PMID: | 41833228 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1873-2232 |
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| DOI: | 10.1016/j.anireprosci.2026.108163 |