Di-isononyl phthalate induces apoptosis and autophagy of mouse ovarian granulosa cells via oxidative stress

Di-isononyl phthalate (DINP) has been widely utilized in industrial, commercial and medical applications for the past few years. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the toxicity of DINP. DINP can cause damage to female reproductive system; however, the potential mechanism remains to be further investigated. In this study, female mice were orally administered with 0, 2, 20 and 200 mg DINP/kg/day for 14 days. We found that DINP significantly affected the arrangement of granulosa cells in ovarian follicles. In addition, DINP could induce apoptosis, autophagy and oxidative stress of the ovary tissue. Meanwhile, the serum estradiol concentration distinctly decreased in the 20 and 200 mg/kg DINP-treated groups, suggesting that DINP might affect the function of ovarian granulosa cells. Primary mouse ovarian granulosa cells were utilized for further investigation after the cells were treated with 0, 100, 200, 400 μM DINP for 24 h. Similar to the in vivo experiment, DINP could also induce apoptosis and autophagy of ovarian granulosa cells, as well as oxidative stress; while inhibition of oxidative stress by NAC could alleviate DINP-induced apoptosis and autophagy. Furthermore, inhibition of autophagy by 3-MA could also rescue the induction of apoptosis by DINP. Taken together, these results indicated that DINP induced apoptosis and autophagy of mouse ovarian granulosa cells via oxidative stress, and autophagy played a cytotoxic role in DINP-induced apoptosis.