Systemic non-coding RNA alterations following exposure to biomass smoke: implications on male reproductive health and the health of their offspring.
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Alongside the escalating severity of wildland fires, the call for research investigating the systemic health effects of exposure to these complex mixtures has also increased. A vulnerable population to these exposures are firefighters, who encounter high concentrations of particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and volatile organic compounds during a wildfire event. Due to the male predominance in this occupation, there is a need to investigate factors that may lead to male reproductive toxicity following exposure to smoke. Herein, we exposed Long-Evans rats to smoldering eucalyptus smoke for seven days (1 hour/day) over the period of sperm maturation to investigate its effects on sperm motility, sperm non-coding RNA populations, and developmental outcomes in their offspring. An additional study was performed to investigate the use of particulate matter filtration to protect against toxicity in sperm. We have demonstrated that exposure to eucalyptus smoke during sperm maturation has decremental effects on progressive motility and flagellar kinetics in caudal sperm obtained from rats. While the reduction in motility was reversible, indicators of disrupted sperm kinetics were still detectable six days after the final exposure. Furthermore, filtered smoke failed to protect against smoke-induced impairments on sperm motility. In addition to these effects, we have also detected shifts in the non-coding RNA populations in caudal sperm from smoke-exposed males. Continued investigations are underway to understand the role of these non-coding RNAs on developmental outcomes in the offspring, including alterations in the early embryonic transcriptome and methylome. This abstract does not reflect US EPA policy.