Panzica G C, Viglietti-Panzica C, Ottinger M A
Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, Rita Levi Montalcini Center for Brain Repair, Department of Anatomy, University of Torino, c.so M. D'Azeglio 52, I-10126 Torino, Italy.
Brain Res Bull. 2005 Apr 15;65(3):187-91. doi: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2005.01.007.
This paper provides an introduction to a special issue dedicated to the action of environmental estrogens on neural circuits and behavior. The problem of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), i.e. chemicals that have the capacity to interfere with the endocrine system, has gained increasing attention as it has become clear that these environmental contaminants may be active in humans, as well as in wildlife and domestic animal species. The majority of the early investigations were aimed at the discovery of the toxicological effects of the EDCs, but biomedical observations were among some of the first indications that estrogenic compounds may exert deleterious effects, even some time after exposure. The data derived from women exposed prenatally to diethylstilbesterol provided powerful evidence for long-term effects and endocrine disruption associated with selected compounds. The examination of wild animal populations exposed to industrial chemicals showed that the chemical exposure, though nonlethal, left the individual impaired or even incapable of reproducing. Among the multiple targets of the action of EDCs, several researches performed in recent years have investigated subtle modifications of the animal behaviors (reproductive, aggressive) that are likely to be related to alterations of specific neural pathways. We have, therefore, focused here on the behavioral studies as one of the more powerful tools to investigate EDCs effects on specific neural circuits.
本文介绍了一期关于环境雌激素对神经回路和行为作用的特刊。内分泌干扰化学物质（EDCs），即有能力干扰内分泌系统的化学物质，已日益受到关注，因为越来越清楚这些环境污染物可能对人类、野生动物和家畜物种都有影响。早期的大多数研究旨在发现EDCs的毒理学效应，但生物医学观察是最早表明雌激素化合物可能产生有害影响的迹象之一，即使在接触一段时间后也是如此。对产前接触己烯雌酚的女性的数据提供了与特定化合物相关的长期影响和内分泌干扰的有力证据。对接触工业化学品的野生动物种群的研究表明，化学物质暴露虽不致命，但会使个体受损甚至无法繁殖。在EDCs作用的多个靶点中，近年来进行的一些研究调查了动物行为（生殖、攻击）的细微变化，这些变化可能与特定神经通路的改变有关。因此，我们在此将重点放在行为研究上，因为它是研究EDCs对特定神经回路影响的更有力工具之一。
