Fig. 5

The evaluation of hormones and the effects on testes in male ICR mice with intravenous injection of IONPs. a–c The levels of hormones that were highly correlated with spermatogenesis in ICR mice at 1, 3, 7, 14 and 28 days after intravenous injection of IONPs, including FSH (a), LH (b) and testosterone (c). d–f The photo of testes (d), unilateral testicular index-changing curves (e) and accumulation of Fe ions in testes evaluated by ICP-AES (f). Data were expressed as the Mean ± S.E.M., n = 5. g, h CDC2 and Cyclin B1 protein levels detected by western blotting (g) and further quantified by ImageJ software (h) in male ICR mice at 1 day after intravenous injection of IONPs with various concentrations. Data were representative of three independent experiments, β-actin served as a loading control. i Histopathological examination of testes in ICR mice at 1, 3, 7, 14 and 28 days after intravenous injection of IONPs with various concentrations. Abnormal cells were indicated by black arrows. Scale bar, 100 μm. j, k Evaluation of N-cadherin (j) and Occludin (k) by immunohistological staining. Positive staining was indicated by red arrows. Scale bar, 100 μm