Advances in epigenetic mechanisms and transgenerational inheritance of male infertility

Male fertility has declined over the last few decades. Therefore, the increasing concern about the link between the environment and male reproductive health has been raised. Studies have found that the exposure to environmental toxicants during fetal development or the mother’s perinatal period promotes the occurrence of infertility in adult male offspring. Environmental toxicants, especially endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), such as phthalic acid ester (PAEs), can induce changes in epigenetic information related to paternal infertility, threatening the reproductive, and developmental health of offspring. Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance refers to a genetic phenomenon that does not involve DNA sequences and affects the phenotypic characteristics of offspring by altering gene expression through DNA or RNA methylation, histone modification, noncoding RNAs, etc. This review describes the concept and phenotype of intergenerational and transgenerational inheritance induced by EDCs, summarizes the recent achievements of important epigenetic molecular mechanisms, and provides a relevant theoretical basis for the protection of male fertility.