Gamete Research Center, Laboratory for Veterinary Physiology and Biochemistry, Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium.
Theriogenology. 2012 Dec;78(9):1887-900. doi: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2012.06.011. Epub 2012 Aug 25.
Throughout the previous century, the production, use and, as a result, presence of chemicals in the environment increased enormously. Consequently, humans and animals are exposed to a wide variety of chemical substances of which some possess the ability to disrupt the endocrine system in the body, thereby denominated as "endocrine disrupting chemicals" (EDCs) or "endocrine disruptors". Because the reproductive system is a target organ for endocrine disruption, EDCs are postulated as one of the possible causes of human subfertility. Within the reproductive system, the ovarian follicle can be considered as an extremely fragile microenvironment where interactions between the oocyte and its surrounding somatic cells are essential to generate a fully competent oocyte. In this review, we explore how EDCs can interfere with the well-balanced conditions in the ovarian follicle. In addition, we highlight the bovine ovarian follicle as an alternative in vitro model for EDC and broader toxicology research.
在上个世纪，化学物质的生产、使用以及由此在环境中的存在大大增加。因此，人类和动物接触到了各种各样的化学物质，其中一些具有破坏体内内分泌系统的能力，因此被称为“内分泌干扰化学物质”（EDCs）或“内分泌干扰物”。由于生殖系统是内分泌干扰的靶器官，因此 EDC 被认为是人类不孕的可能原因之一。在生殖系统中，卵泡可以被认为是一个极其脆弱的微环境，其中卵母细胞与其周围体细胞之间的相互作用对于产生完全成熟的卵母细胞至关重要。在这篇综述中，我们探讨了 EDC 如何干扰卵泡内的平衡状态。此外，我们还强调了牛卵泡作为 EDC 和更广泛的毒理学研究的体外替代模型。
