Overview
- Researchers from the Universities of Nottingham and Sheffield published a peer-reviewed paper in Frontiers reporting dose-dependent effects of cigarette-smoke extract on reproductive organs in mice.
- The team exposed mice to lower and higher doses of cigarette-smoke extract for 12 weeks to measure tissue structure and gene activity in ovaries and testes.
- Female mice showed little change in ovarian follicle number or appearance but had shifts in gene activity linked to cell division, metabolism and patterns seen in ovarian ageing.
- Male mice given higher smoke doses developed enlargement of seminiferous tubules and changes in genes tied to sperm production, immune responses and cell signalling.
- Authors say the results give mechanistic insight into how smoking could harm fertility but caution that species differences, exposure methods and dose scaling mean human studies are needed before drawing clinical conclusions.