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. 2019 Aug 19;20(16):4042. doi: 10.3390/ijms20164042

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Intragastrical exposure of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) cause toxic damage to the mouse male reproductive system. (A) Testes were obtained from male mice treated with 0 (a), 100 (b), 200 (c), or 400 (d) mg ZnO NPs/kg/day for 28 days. The testes were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (HE) and then were visualized under an IX51 Olympus microscope. The disruption of the seminiferous epithelium in the testis is indicated by arrows. Magnification: 100×. (B) Epididymides were obtained from male mice treated with 0 (a), 100 (b), 200 (c), or 400 (d) mg ZnO NPs/kg/day for 28 days, and stained with HE. The sperm in the epididymis are indicated by an asterisk. Magnification: 200×. (C) The protein levels of cleaved Caspase-3, cleaved Caspase-8, Bax, and Bcl 2 and (E) the levels of LC3, Beclin 1, and Atg 5 were detected by Western blot; Actin was used as an internal control. (D,F) The relative protein levels were quantified by densitometry. (G) The serum testosterone concentration. The experiment was done in triplicate and repeated three times (n = 9). Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA. * p < 0.05.