A grant from the National Institutes of Health will support ongoing research at Wayne State University investigating the consequences that environmental factors may have on fertility in males.

The five-year, $3,082,404 grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health is led by Richard Pilsner, Ph.D., professor and the Robert J. Sokol, M.D., Endowed Chair of Molecular Obstetrics and Gynecology in the C.S. Mott Center for Human Growth and Development in the WSU Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He has a joint appointment in the Institute of Environmental Health Sciences at Wayne State University. Susan Sumner, Ph.D., professor of Nutrition in the School of Pharmacology at the University of North Carolina, is co-principal investigator.

“The goal is to identify novel biomarkers in seminal plasma,” Dr. Pilsner said. “Along with sperm, seminal plasma can influence reproductive outcomes, but there’s been limited research examining metabolomic profiles in seminal plasma and how they relate to metabolic exposures and reproductive success.”

Drs. Pilsner and Sumner will study phthalates, a class of endocrine-disrupting compounds used in plastics and personal care products. Phthalates are ubiquitous environmental contaminants, and exposure to them has been associated with low sperm quality, poor embryo development and a longer time to pregnancy.

“Through this research, we’ll aim to provide predictive information for reproductive success,” Dr. Pilsner said. “If we identify metabolomic patterns that are important for the success of a live birth or reproduction, we can then intervene in situations where couples are having trouble becoming pregnant. Our emerging research demonstrates that preconception environmental health is a very important predictor of reproductive success.”

The ultimate goals of the research are to determine the associations of preconception urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations with seminal plasma metabolomics, to determine the relationships of seminal plasma metabolites and reproductive outcomes, and to replicate and further characterize seminal plasma metabolomic findings in an independent set of participants. These results will hopefully constitute major advances in the fields of environmental and reproductive health by improving clinical assessments of male fertility and become a critical step toward developing interventions for male infertility.

“Research that explores the impact the environment has on health is critical,” said Ezemenari Obasi, Ph.D., vice president for Research & Innovation at Wayne State University. “This important research by Drs. Pilsner and Sumner will ultimately help to create healthier, more sustainable environments that improve reproductive health and beyond. I look forward to the important discoveries their research will create.”

The award number for this grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health is ES036537-01.