Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência e Tecnologia Ambiental, Universidade Federal da Fronteira Sul, Rodovia RS 135, Km 72, Erechim, RS, 99700-970, Brazil.
Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Sul, Campus Sertão, Rodovia RS 135, Km 25, Sertão, RS, 99170-000, Brazil.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2020 Aug;27(23):29341-29351. doi: 10.1007/s11356-020-09318-7. Epub 2020 May 21.
The synthetic estrogen, 17-α-ethinylestradiol (EE2), present in contraceptive pills, is an endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC) that can be found in the aquatic environment. We examined the impacts of EE2 on zebrafish behavioral and physiological responses through the novel tank test (NTT), which measures anxiety-like behavior; the mirror-induced aggression (MIA) test, which measures aggressiveness; and the social preference test (SPT), which measures social cohesion. The steroid hormone levels were also measured. Here, we show that exposure to EE2 impairs stress responses by regulating the levels of specific hormones and eliciting an anxiolytic response, increasing aggression, and reducing social preference in zebrafish. In nature, these changes in behavior compromise reproduction and anti-predator behaviors, which, in turn, affects species survival. The maintenance of an intact behavioral repertoire in zebrafish is essential for their survival. Thus, our results point to the danger of environmental contamination with EE2 as it may alter the dynamics of the prey-predator relationship.
合成雌激素 17-α-乙炔基雌二醇（EE2）存在于避孕药中，是一种内分泌干扰化学物质（EDC），可在水环境中被发现。我们通过新颖的水箱测试（NTT）来检测 EE2 对斑马鱼行为和生理反应的影响，该测试可测量类似焦虑的行为；镜像诱导攻击（MIA）测试，可测量攻击性；以及社会偏好测试（SPT），可测量社交凝聚力。还测量了类固醇激素水平。在这里，我们发现 EE2 通过调节特定激素的水平并引起抗焦虑反应来损害应激反应，从而增加斑马鱼的攻击性并降低其社会偏好。在自然界中，这些行为的变化会损害繁殖和抗捕食行为，从而影响物种的生存。在斑马鱼中保持完整的行为组合对于其生存至关重要。因此，我们的研究结果表明 EE2 对环境的污染可能会改变猎物-捕食者关系的动态，这是危险的。
