Department of Anatomy, Physiology, and Pharmacology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA.
Andrology. 2018 Jan;6(1):214-222. doi: 10.1111/andr.12451.
Hormonally active agents are released into the environment from industrial and manufacturing activity. Evidence in the literature indicates that impaired reproductive capacity in wildlife and laboratory species is associated with chemical exposures. In particular, bisphenol A (BPA) and di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) have generated public interest due to their presence in several consumer products. In this study, we determined that expression of steroid hormone receptors (estrogen and androgen receptors), Wnt4, and β-catenin was greater (p < 0.05) in the rat epididymis at 35 days of age compared to 21 and 90 days. Second, timed-pregnant Long-Evans dams were exposed to the chemicals BPA and DEHP by gavage from gestational days 12-21. The caput epididymis was collected from cohorts of male offspring at 35 and 90 days of age and processed for Western blot analysis. Results showed that prenatal BPA and DEHP exposures affected (p < 0.05) expression of estrogen and androgen receptor, Wnt4, β-catenin, MAPK, and HOXD4 protein in the epididymis. Data have implications for morphological development of the epididymis, a possibility that would be explored in future studies.
激素活性物质会通过工业和制造活动释放到环境中。文献中的证据表明，野生动物和实验室物种的生殖能力受损与化学暴露有关。特别是双酚 A（BPA）和邻苯二甲酸二（2-乙基己基）酯（DEHP）因其存在于多种消费产品中而引起了公众的关注。在这项研究中，我们确定在 35 天大的大鼠附睾中，类固醇激素受体（雌激素和雄激素受体）、Wnt4 和 β-连环蛋白的表达高于 21 天大和 90 天大的大鼠（p<0.05）。其次，通过灌胃使妊娠 12-21 天的长耳大仓鼠母体接触 BPA 和 DEHP。在 35 天和 90 天大的雄性后代中收集附睾头并进行 Western blot 分析。结果表明，产前 BPA 和 DEHP 暴露影响了附睾中雌激素和雄激素受体、Wnt4、β-连环蛋白、MAPK 和 HOXD4 蛋白的表达（p<0.05）。这些数据对附睾的形态发育有影响，未来的研究将进一步探索这种可能性。
