The toxic effects and possible mechanisms of Bisphenol A on oocyte maturation of porcine in vitro

Bisphenol A (BPA) and Di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) are widely used in the plastic industry such as water bottles, containers, packaging and toys. BPA and DEHP are shown to be the endocrine disruptors which disturb the endocrine system and are linked to several diseases including infertility. In this study, we investigated the effects of BPA exposure on porcine oocyte maturation and its possible reasons. Our results showed that: (i) the rates of oocyte maturation significantly decreased with 250 μM BPA treatment in vitro, but not DEHP. This might be due to the delayed cell cycle progression of oocyte maturation. (ii) BPA treatment resulted in abnormal cytoskeletons on porcine oocytes, showing with aberrant actin distribution, spindle morphology and chromosome alignment, which was further confirmed by the reduced p-MAPK level. (iii) The fluorescence intensity of histone methylation (H3K4me2) and DNA methylation (5 mC) levels were altered after BPA treatment, indicating that epigenetic modification was disturbed. (iv) BPA-exposed oocytes had higher rates of early stage apoptosis/autophagy, and this may be resulted from the increased level of oxidative stress. Collectively, our results indicated that porcine oocytes maturation was disrupted after BPA treatment through disrupting cytoskeletal dynamics, epigenetic modifications and inducing apoptosis/autophagy.