Tavares Renata S, Martins Fátima C, Oliveira Paulo J, Ramalho-Santos João, Peixoto Francisco P
Department of Zoology, Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology of Coimbra, University of Coimbra, 3004-517 Coimbra, Portugal.
Reprod Toxicol. 2009 Jan;27(1):1-7. doi: 10.1016/j.reprotox.2008.10.002. Epub 2008 Oct 21.
Parabens are widely used as preservatives in many foods, cosmetics, toiletries, and pharmaceuticals due to their relatively low toxicity profile and to a long history of safe use. Parabens are alkyl esters of p-hydroxybenzoic acid and typically include methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben, isobutylparaben, isopropylparaben and benzylparaben. These compounds are known to have a null or very weak estrogenic activity in estrogen receptor assays in vitro. In recent years, an increasing concern has emerged regarding possible adverse effects of chemicals in food and in cosmetics on human reproduction outcomes. In developed countries about 15% of human couples are affected by infertility, almost half of these cases attributed to men, through low sperm motility or/and sperm count. It is known that a significant number of cases of male infertility results from exposure to xenobiotics, and also that testis mitochondria are particularly affected by drug-induced toxicity. The present review discusses evidence that parabens may not be as safe as initially thought, and suggests that the interaction between parabens and mitochondrial function in the testis may be key in explaining the contribution of parabens for a decrease in reproductive potential.
由于对羟基苯甲酸酯的毒性相对较低且有长期安全使用的历史，它们被广泛用作许多食品、化妆品、洗漱用品和药品中的防腐剂。对羟基苯甲酸酯是对羟基苯甲酸的烷基酯，通常包括甲基对羟基苯甲酸酯、乙基对羟基苯甲酸酯、丙基对羟基苯甲酸酯、丁基对羟基苯甲酸酯、异丁基对羟基苯甲酸酯、异丙基对羟基苯甲酸酯和苄基对羟基苯甲酸酯。已知这些化合物在体外雌激素受体试验中具有零或非常弱的雌激素活性。近年来，人们越来越关注食品和化妆品中的化学物质对人类生殖结果可能产生的不利影响。在发达国家，约15%的夫妇受不孕症影响，其中近一半病例归因于男性，原因是精子活力低或/和精子数量少。众所周知，大量男性不育病例是由于接触外源性物质导致的，而且睾丸线粒体特别容易受到药物诱导的毒性影响。本综述讨论了对羟基苯甲酸酯可能不像最初认为的那么安全的证据，并表明对羟基苯甲酸酯与睾丸线粒体功能之间的相互作用可能是解释对羟基苯甲酸酯导致生殖潜力下降的关键因素。
