Although everyone is well aware of the dangers of smoking during pregnancy, about 20% of young American women continue to smoke during pregnancy, and even more during breastfeeding..

Now, a team of researchers from Newcastle University in Australia has demonstrated in mice that smoking during pregnancy can impair offspring fertility..

Scientists led by Professor Eileen McLaughlin published their findings in Human Reproduction..

They note that until today, the effect of smoking on male fertility, as well as the mechanisms behind it, remained a mystery to science.. Too little research has been devoted to this issue, and most of them were of poor quality..

In the latest work, the team used the first comprehensive animal model to demonstrate the effects of smoking on humans.. While it has not been possible to test these effects directly in humans, Professor McLaughlin says the results could be transferred to humans..

Sons of smoking mothers may be 'subfertile or infertile'.

For their study, scientists created a machine that blew cigarette smoke into the nostrils of animals.. A total of 27 female mice were exposed to toxic smoke.. Rodents inhaled the amount of smoke equivalent to 24 human cigarettes daily. Another group of 27 females was the control.

After 6 weeks, the females were placed in a cage with the males for reproduction.. After that, "

Scientists analyzed the condition of 108 males that were born as a result of the experiment. They took DNA analyzes of cells that are involved in the production of sperm, studied the morphology and motility of spermatozoa and the ability of animals to produce offspring..

It turned out that males that were born to " With the help of such sperm, it was practically impossible to achieve fertilization with IVF.

Commenting on the results, Professor McLaughlin said: “Consequently, males born to such mice are either subfertile or infertile.. This is the first time that scientists have proven the negative impact of cigarette smoke during pregnancy on the fertility of male offspring..

The professor explains that cigarette smoke toxins affect the stem cell population in the testes of males, reducing sperm production.. Additionally, oxidative stress affects testicular cells, leading to the appearance of "

The importance of research for humans.

The researchers acknowledge that their work may have some limitations due to the animal model used, although they tried to make the conditions as close as possible.. Be that as it may, these results provide new evidence of the dangers of smoking during pregnancy for offspring..

Professor McLaughlin says the results of the work can be transferred to men, many of whom are unable to conceive in their 30s or 40s due to exposure to cigarette smoke in utero.. At the same time, doctors cannot determine the cause of their infertility..

“Such men have difficulty conceiving due to the low number and quality of spermatozoa..

Unfortunately, about 25% of modern young women continue to smoke during pregnancy and breastfeeding - this is a potential risk to the fertility of their sons, and not only,” the researcher concluded..

Scientists call on health authorities to actively fight smoking among women in general, and especially among pregnant and lactating women.

Now the research team is trying to understand the impact of cigarette smoke on the health and fertility of male mice in the second and third generations, as well as to assess the effect of tobacco toxins on the eggs of females..

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