IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v22y2025i2p222-d1584080.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Acute Exposure to Ozone Affects Circulating Estradiol Levels and Gonadotropin Gene Expression in Female Mice

Author

Listed:
  • Dustin Rousselle

    (Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA)

  • Patricia Silveyra

    (Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
    Department of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA)

Abstract

Ozone, a critical air pollutant, has been shown to lead to systemic inflammation that can alter bodily functions, including hormone secretion, fertility, and the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal (HPG) axis. This study aimed to quantify changes in hormone production and follicle development after acute exposure to ozone using an animal model to identify the potential mechanisms underlying the observed effects of air pollution exposures on fertility and hormone secretion. To accomplish this, regularly cycling 8-week-old female C57BL/6J mice were exposed to 2 ppm of ozone or filtered air (control) for 3 h on the day of proestrus. Blood, ovaries, brain tissues, and pituitary glands were collected at 4 h after exposure to evaluate hormone levels, ovarian follicle distribution, and gene expression. Ovaries were also harvested at 24 h post-exposure. We found that at 4 h after ozone exposure, mice had significantly higher (30%) circulating estradiol levels than mice exposed to filtered air. This effect was accompanied by a decrease in mRNA expression of gonadotropin genes (LH, FSH) and gonadotropin-releasing hormone in the pituitary gland. Analysis of ovarian tissue at 4 h and 24 h after exposure showed no significant changes in follicle composition or the expression of steroidogenesis genes. We conclude that acute ozone exposure affects sex hormone levels and disrupts the HPG axis. Future studies addressing chronic or long-term effects of air pollution exposure are needed to elucidate the mechanisms by which ambient ozone affects endocrine function.

Suggested Citation

  • Dustin Rousselle & Patricia Silveyra, 2025. "Acute Exposure to Ozone Affects Circulating Estradiol Levels and Gonadotropin Gene Expression in Female Mice," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 22(2), pages 1-9, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:2:p:222-:d:1584080
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/2/222/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/2/222/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Athanasios Valavanidis & Thomais Vlachogianni & Konstantinos Fiotakis & Spyridon Loridas, 2013. "Pulmonary Oxidative Stress, Inflammation and Cancer: Respirable Particulate Matter, Fibrous Dusts and Ozone as Major Causes of Lung Carcinogenesis through Reactive Oxygen Species Mechanisms," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-22, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sharon A. McClellan & Robert Wright & Farooq Muhammed & Linda D. Hazlett, 2024. "Impact of Airborne Exposure to PM 10 Increases Susceptibility to P. aeruginosa Infection," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(6), pages 1-17, May.
    2. Bing-Yu Niu & Wen-Ke Li & Jiang-Shuai Li & Qi-Hao Hong & Sara Khodahemmati & Jing-Feng Gao & Zhi-Xiang Zhou, 2020. "Effects of DNA Damage and Oxidative Stress in Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells Exposed to PM 2.5 from Beijing, China, in Winter," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-15, July.
    3. Wei Wen & Tongxin Hua & Lei Liu & Xiaoyu Liu & Xin Ma & Song Shen & Zifan Deng, 2023. "Oxidative Potential Characterization of Different PM 2.5 Sources and Components in Beijing and the Surrounding Region," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-18, March.
    4. Ling Pan & Jing Sui & Ying Xu & Qun Zhao & Yinyin Cai & Guiju Sun & Hui Xia, 2023. "Effect of Fine Particulate Matter Exposure on Liver Enzymes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-11, February.
    5. Antonin Ambroz & Pavel Rossner & Andrea Rossnerova & Katerina Honkova & Alena Milcova & Anna Pastorkova & Jiri Klema & Jana Pulkrabova & Ondrej Parizek & Veronika Vondraskova & Jaroslav Zelenka & Niko, 2022. "Oxidative Stress and Antioxidant Response in Populations of the Czech Republic Exposed to Various Levels of Environmental Pollutants," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-16, March.
    6. Alessio Facciolà & Giuseppa Visalli & Marianna Pruiti Ciarello & Angela Di Pietro, 2021. "Newly Emerging Airborne Pollutants: Current Knowledge of Health Impact of Micro and Nanoplastics," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-17, March.
    7. Laura Franza & Rossella Cianci, 2021. "Pollution, Inflammation, and Vaccines: A Complex Crosstalk," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-16, June.
    8. Ammar Javed & Farheen Aamir & Umar Farooq Gohar & Hamid Mukhtar & Muhammad Zia-UI-Haq & Modhi O. Alotaibi & May Nasser Bin-Jumah & Romina Alina Marc (Vlaic) & Oana Lelia Pop, 2021. "The Potential Impact of Smog Spell on Humans’ Health Amid COVID-19 Rages," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-19, October.
    9. Leonardo Alberghini & Alessandro Truant & Serena Santonicola & Giampaolo Colavita & Valerio Giaccone, 2022. "Microplastics in Fish and Fishery Products and Risks for Human Health: A Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-17, December.
    10. Jagriti Saini & Maitreyee Dutta & Gonçalo Marques, 2020. "Indoor Air Quality Monitoring Systems Based on Internet of Things: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(14), pages 1-22, July.
    11. Melania Maria Serafini & Ambra Maddalon & Martina Iulini & Valentina Galbiati, 2022. "Air Pollution: Possible Interaction between the Immune and Nervous System?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-24, November.
    12. Chenying Li & Tiantian Zhang & Xi Wang & Zefeng Lian, 2022. "Site Selection of Urban Parks Based on Fuzzy-Analytic Hierarchy Process (F-AHP): A Case Study of Nanjing, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-27, October.
    13. Ching-Chang Cho & Wen-Yeh Hsieh & Chin-Hung Tsai & Cheng-Yi Chen & Hui-Fang Chang & Chih-Sheng Lin, 2018. "In Vitro and In Vivo Experimental Studies of PM 2.5 on Disease Progression," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-26, July.
    14. Roberto Cazzolla Gatti, 2021. "Why We Will Continue to Lose Our Battle with Cancers If We Do Not Stop Their Triggers from Environmental Pollution," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-19, June.
    15. Alexander Gerber & Alexander Bigelow & Michaela Schulze & David A. Groneberg, 2015. "Brand Cigarillos — A Cheap and Less Harmful Alternative to Cigarettes? Particulate Matter Emissions Suggest Otherwise," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-11, January.
    16. Vasanthi R. Sunil & Jared Radbel & Sabiha Hussain & Kinal N. Vayas & Jessica Cervelli & Malik Deen & Howard Kipen & Iris Udasin & Robert Laumbach & Jag Sunderram & Jeffrey D. Laskin & Debra L. Laskin, 2019. "Sarcoid-Like Granulomatous Disease: Pathologic Case Series in World Trade Center Dust Exposed Rescue and Recovery Workers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-18, March.
    17. Sangjun Choi & Ju-Hyun Park & So-Yeon Kim & Hyunseok Kwak & Dongwon Kim & Kyong-Hui Lee & Dong-Uk Park, 2019. "Characteristics of PM 2.5 and Black Carbon Exposure Among Subway Workers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-15, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:2:p:222-:d:1584080. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.