Imajima T, Shono T, Zakaria O, Suita S
Department of Pediatric, Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
J Pediatr Surg. 1997 Jan;32(1):18-21. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3468(97)90083-x.
Phathalate esters, which are commonly used as plasticizers for polyvinyl chloride, are also well known to disturb Sertoli cells. This study aims to show the effect of prenatally administered phthalate on testicular descent in pre- and postnatal rats. Pregnant rats were exposed to mono-n-butyl phthalate (MBP) by gavage from the 15th to the 18th gestational days. Rats administered with solvent only were used as controls. In 20-day-old fetuses (n = 15), the degree of transabdominal testicular ascent in relation to the bladder neck was thus found to be significantly higher in MBP-treated rats than that of the controls (n = 19). In addition, in MBP-treated male offspring (n = 26), 22 rats showed either bilateral or unilateral cryptorchidism at the age of 30 to 40 days old, and the occurrence of cryptorchidism was 84.6%. By contrast, the occurrence of cryptorchidism was 0% in the control rats (n = 15, P < .001). It is therefore suggested that prenatal exposure to MBP may disturb the Sertoli cells and elevate the fetal testes relative to the bladder neck while also inducing cryptorchidism postnatally. Sertoli cells may thus play an important role in the transabdominal descent of the testis by secreting Müllerian-inhibiting substance (MIS), which is known to act as a putative mediator of the transabdominal phase.
邻苯二甲酸酯通常用作聚氯乙烯的增塑剂，众所周知，它会干扰支持细胞。本研究旨在表明产前给予邻苯二甲酸酯对产前和产后大鼠睾丸下降的影响。从妊娠第15天到第18天，通过灌胃法使怀孕大鼠暴露于邻苯二甲酸单丁酯（MBP）。仅给予溶剂的大鼠用作对照。在20日龄胎儿（n = 15）中，发现经MBP处理的大鼠相对于膀胱颈的经腹睾丸上升程度明显高于对照组（n = 19）。此外，在经MBP处理的雄性后代（n = 26）中，22只大鼠在30至40日龄时出现双侧或单侧隐睾，隐睾发生率为84.6%。相比之下，对照大鼠（n = 15）的隐睾发生率为0%（P <.001）。因此，提示产前暴露于MBP可能会干扰支持细胞，使胎儿睾丸相对于膀胱颈上升，同时还会在出生后诱发隐睾。支持细胞可能通过分泌苗勒管抑制物质（MIS）在睾丸经腹下降过程中发挥重要作用，已知MIS是经腹阶段的一种假定介质。
