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. 2022 Aug 31;4:901798. doi: 10.3389/ftox.2022.901798

FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 1

Schematic diagram showing microplastics affecting male and female reproductive functions: Microplastics affecting male reproductive functions via the activation of different signaling pathways, Akt/mTOR, apoptosis, MAPK, and inhibition of cAMP/PK3 that results in increased oxidative stress, BTB disruption, and spermatogenesis dysfunction and decrease in steroidogenic enzymes and LHR downregulation. Microplastics affecting the female reproductive functions altered by the activation of NLRP3, TLR4/NOX2, and TGF-β/fibrogenesis that results in increased oxidative stress, endometrial thinning, collagen deposition, inflammatory markers, and pyroptosis and apoptosis of granulosa cells while ovarian reserve, growing follicles, granulosa cells capacity, and anti-müllerian hormone levels are decreased. Abbreviations: cAMP, cyclic adenosine monophosphate; AKT, Ak strain transforming; BTB, blood–testes barrier; LHR, luteinizing hormone receptor; MAPK, mitogen-activated protein kinase; mTOR, mammalian target of rapamycin; NOX-2, NADPH oxidase-2; NLRP3, nod-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3; PKA, protein kinase A; StAR, steroidogenic acute regulatory protein; TGF-β, transforming growth factor-β; TLR4, toll-like receptor-4.