Scientific Reports：抗生素跨代影响的研究

在2012年4月27日版Scientific Reports上，刊出一篇论文，该文指出：雄性伪蝎用四环素治疗后，精子活力显著降低，并将这一毒性作用传递给它们未用四环素治疗的子代，这一类似效果也可能发生于人类和其他物种。它是第一篇表明抗生素跨代影响的研究。

在此研究中，以三代伪蝎为研究对象，将21窝伪蝎分为两组，一组为对照组，不用四环素处理，另一组从出生到成年用周剂量四环素处理，以便控制第一代中的遗传影响。随后几代不用四环素处理，结果发现：四环素对雄性或雌性身体大小、精子数量或女性生殖没有影响；对雄性伪蝎生殖功能和精子活力有很显著的不利影响，可将精子活力降低至25%，并且这种影响可传至子代，但在子代后的世代中没有观察到这种影响。四环素可能诱导雄性生殖组织后生变化，这些变化可传递给子代，不改变DNA序列，却改变基因表达方式。

广谱抗生素四环素被广泛用于动物生产、抗生素治疗及治疗节肢动物沃尔巴克氏内共生菌感染。尽管六十多年治疗与农业应用已导致细菌普遍耐药性的演变，四环素仍然常用作发展中国家的动物饲料添加剂和方便的抗菌疗法。此研究是国家科学基金资助项目的一部分，该项目主要调查研究雄性低生育的影响因素。

doi:10.1038/srep00375
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From father to son: transgenerational effect of tetracycline on sperm viability

Jeanne A. Zeh, Melvin M. Bonilla, Angelica J. Adrian, Sophia Mesfin, David W. Zeh

The broad-spectrum antibiotic tetracycline is used in animal production, antimicrobial therapy, and for curing arthropods infected with bacterial endosymbionts such as Wolbachia. Tetracycline inhibits mitochondrial translation, and recent evidence indicates that male reproductive traits may be particularly sensitive to this antibiotic. Here, we report the first multi-generation investigation of tetracycline's effects on ejaculate traits. In a study of the pseudoscorpion, Cordylochernes scorpioides, in which siblings were randomly assigned to control and tetracycline treatments across replicate full-sibling families, tetracycline did not affect body size in either sex, female reproduction or sperm number. However, tetracycline-treated males exhibited significantly reduced sperm viability compared to control males, and transmitted this toxic effect of tetracycline on sperm to their untreated sons but not to their F2 grandsons. These results are consistent with tetracycline-induced epigenetic changes in the male germline, and suggest the need for further investigation of transgenerational effects of tetracycline on male reproductive function.