Investigating Lead Nitrates Effects on Mouse Reproduction via Ovarian FSHR Gene Expression Analysis and Immune Response
Keywords:
Fertility, FSHR gene, lead nitrate, gene expression, ImmunityAbstract
Background: There are many diseases or disorders that can arise as a result of exposure to harmful chemicals like PbNO3. It has been observed in many studies that there are adverse effects on reproduction caused by exposure to environmental toxins.
Objective: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of PbNO3 exposure on the FSHR gene correlated with immune response.
Methodology: Twelve female Balb/c mice were housed from January 2025 to March 2025 in the Research and Technology Center of Environmental, Water and Renewable Energy, Baghdad, Iraq. Under standard environmental conditions, including a 12-hour light/dark cycle at 220 C and 55.0% humidity. Divided into a control group (4 mice) and an experimental group (8 mice) that received 10 mg/kg/day of lead nitrate intraperitoneally for six weeks. At the end of the exposure period, mice were euthanized to carefully dissect, clean, and collect ovarian tissues from both groups. The ovaries were immediately flash-frozen in liquid nitrogen or preserved in TRIzol solution for subsequent gene expression analysis using Rt-PCT.
Results: The data presented the gene expression levels of the FSHR gene standardized against the Gapdh-mis gene using the 2-ΔΔCt (folding) method. The average fold change of the treated samples is 0.60, showing downregulation of FSHR expression compared to the control samples. The control samples had a standard baseline fold change of 1.00. Generally, the majority of the treated samples, such as Sample 1, Sample 3, Sample 4, Sample 8, and Sample 9, showed downregulation below 1.00.
Conclusion: Analysis of mRNA can provide an accurate quantitative means for assessing the effects of lead nitrate on the expression of FSHR genes, which indirectly shows the change in the translated receptor protein, and analysis would provide insights on other cellular processes involved in the toxicity of lead through disruptions in the pathways associated with the production of FSHR.
Bangladesh Journal of Infectious Diseases, June 2026;13(1):221-227
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Copyright (c) 2026 Suaad S. Mukhlif , Huda S. Naser, Mohammed Taha
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