Lead accumulation, oxidative damage and histopathological alteration in testes and accessory glands of freshwater crab, Sinopotamon henanense, induced by acute lead exposure

• Pb exposure caused decreased survival rate of sperm in Sinopotamon henanense.
• Morphological changes in testes and accessory glands were discovered after Pb exposure.
• The activities of SOD, GPx and CAT in testes and accessory glands were decreased after Pb exposure.
• MDA contents were increased with increasing Pb concentrations and exposure time.

Lead (Pb) is one of the most toxic environmental pollutants and known to exert multiple toxic effects including gonadotoxic and spermiotoxic effects. In order to understand toxic mechanisms of lead (Pb) on the testes and the accessory glands of crabs, we investigated Pb accumulation in testes and accessory glands and the survival rate of sperms of freshwater crab, Sinopotamon henanense. The tissue damaging effects of Pb was also investigated by histopathological examination and analyses of antioxidant enzymes as well as lipid peroxidation. Crabs were exposed to different Pb concentrations (0, 3.675, 7.35, 14.7, 29.4 and 58.8 mg/L) for 3, 5 and 7 days. The results showed that Pb levels in testes and accessory glands increased significantly following Pb exposure for 5 and 7 days in almost all treated groups, and survival rate of sperm decreased with increasing Pb concentrations at 5 and 7 days. Morphological changes identified histologically were discovered in testes, including a disordered arrangement of germ cells, a decreased number of sperm in the lumina of the seminiferous tubules, extensive necrosis in the germinal layer of the seminiferous tubules, etc. At the same time, histological abnormalities were discovered in accessory glands, the wall cells were separated from the basement membrane, and wall cells were missing partly. The activities of SOD, GPx and CAT in testes showed no statistically significant changes compared to the control for 3 days, and initially increased and subsequently decreased with increasing Pb concentrations at 5 and 7 days. The antioxidant enzyme activities in accessory glands initially increased and subsequently decreased with increasing Pb concentrations and Pb exposure. This was accompanied with an increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) content in a concentration-dependent manner. These results showed that acute Pb exposure led to a reduction of survival rate of sperm and harmful effects at the cellular level of crab testes and accessory glands, which are most likely linked to Pb-induced oxidative stress.