Cryptorchidism and endocrine disrupting chemicals

Prospective clinical studies have suggested that the rate of congenital cryptorchidism has increased since the 1950s. It has been hypothesized that this may be related to environmental factors. Testicular descent occurs in two phases controlled by Leydig cell-derived hormones insulin-like peptide 3 (INSL3) and testosterone. Disorders in fetal androgen production/action or suppression of Insl3 are mechanisms causing cryptorchidism in rodents. In humans, prenatal exposure to potent estrogen diethylstilbestrol (DES) has been associated with increased risk of cryptorchidism. In addition, epidemiological studies have suggested that exposure to pesticides may also be associated with cryptorchidism. Some case-control studies analyzing environmental chemical levels in maternal breast milk samples have reported associations between cryptorchidism and chemical levels. Furthermore, it has been suggested that exposure levels of some chemicals may be associated with infant reproductive hormone levels.     

大鼠股骨缺损模型中BBP增强BMP-2的骨诱导作用*

目的验证在大鼠节段性骨缺损模型中骨形态发生蛋白结合肽（BMP Binding Peptide,BBP）对于重组人骨形态发生蛋白-2（recombinent human bone morphogenetic protein-2,rhBMP-2）骨诱导作用的影响。方法 70只缺损大鼠分别分成7组,每组不同剂量的rhBMP-2＋/-1000 gBBP,4w和8w后分别摄片,动物8w后处死,股骨样本分别手工评估,采用uCT测量骨容积,随后分别采用组织学和生物力学分析。结果高剂量（10 g）rhBMP-2组术后8w可见骨愈合,骨缺损处骨完全覆盖和桥接,但低剂量（5 g和2 g）rhBMP-2组术后8w骨愈合欠佳。与单独应用rhBMP-2相比,使用低剂量的rhBMP-2复合一定量的BBP可以取得更满意的骨形成量。BBP增强rhBMP-2的骨形成活性发生于4~8w时,而在术后早期并无明显作用。单纯应用BBP仅可见骨缺损处局部的钙化,未见骨愈合。结论 BBP能显著增强rhBMP-2的骨形成活性,这种增强作用需要一定时间来产生效果;其活性发生于术后4~8w时,在术后早期并无明显作用。而且BBP本身并没有骨诱导潜力,仅仅能增强rhBMP-2的骨形成活性。BBP起到缓释作用,与rhBMP-2紧密结合后,让rhBMP-2缓慢而持久的释放。     

邻苯二甲酸丁基苄酯诱发HeLa细胞株DNA-蛋白质交联影响的初步研究

目的研究邻苯二甲酸丁基苄酯（BBP）的遗传毒性。方法采用不同浓度BBP（0、5、25、125、625μmol·L^-1）对HeLa细胞进行体外染毒2h,利用KCl-SDS沉淀法检测DNA-蛋白质交联DPC效应。结果不同浓度的BBP均能引起HeLa细胞DPC系数的上升,但这种效应在低浓度（5μmol·L^-1）时不显著（P〉0.05）;而在高浓度（25、125、625μmol·L^-1）时,BBP能够显著地或非常显著地（P〈0.01,P〈0.05）诱导HeLa细胞产生DNA-蛋白质交联效应。结论邻苯二甲酸丁基苄酯可诱发HeLa细胞株DNA-蛋白质交联。     

Perinatal exposure to the phthalates DEHP, BBP, and DINP, but not DEP, DMP, or DOTP, alters sexual differentiation of the male rat.

In mammals, exposure to antiandrogenic chemicals during sexual differentiation can produce malformations of the reproductive tract. Perinatal administration of AR antagonists like vinclozolin and procymidone or chemicals like di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) that inhibit fetal testicular testosterone production demasculinize the males such that they display reduced anogenital distance (AGD), retained nipples, cleft phallus with hypospadias, undescended testes, a vaginal pouch, epididymal agenesis, and small to absent sex accessory glands as adults. In addition to DEHP, di-n-butyl (DBP) also has been shown to display antiandrogenic activity and induce malformations in male rats. In the current investigation, we examined several phthalate esters to determine if they altered sexual differentiation in an antiandrogenic manner. We hypothesized that the phthalate esters that altered testis function in the pubertal male rat would also alter testis function in the fetal male and produce malformations of androgen-dependent tissues. In this regard, we expected that benzyl butyl (BBP) and diethylhexyl (DEHP) phthalate would alter sexual differentiation, while dioctyl tere- (DOTP or DEHT), diethyl (DEP), and dimethyl (DMP) phthalate would not. We expected that the phthalate mixture diisononyl phthalate (DINP) would be weakly active due to the presence of some phthalates with a 6-7 ester group. DEHP, BBP, DINP, DEP, DMP, or DOTP were administered orally to the dam at 0.75 g/kg from gestational day (GD) 14 to postnatal day (PND) 3. None of the treatments induced overt maternal toxicity or reduced litter sizes. While only DEHP treatment reduced maternal weight gain during the entire dosing period by about 15 g, both DEHP and DINP reduced pregnancy weight gain to GD 21 by 24 g and 14 g, respectively. DEHP and BBP treatments reduced pup weight at birth (15%). Male (but not female) pups from the DEHP and BBP groups displayed shortened AGDs (about 30%) and reduced testis weights (about 35%). As infants, males in the DEHP, BBP, and DINP groups displayed femalelike areolas/nipples (87, 70, and 22% (p < 0.01), respectively, versus 0% in other groups). All three of the phthalate treatments that induced areolas also induced a significant incidence of reproductive malformations. The percentages of males with malformations were 82% (p < 0.0001) for DEHP, 84% (p < 0.0001) for BBP, and 7.7% (p < 0.04) in the DINP group. In summary, DEHP, BBP, and DINP all altered sexual differentiation, whereas DOTP, DEP, and DMP were ineffective at this dose. Whereas DEHP and BBP were of equivalent potency, DINP was about an order of magnitude less active.     

Toxicity of butylbenzyl phthalate (BBP) and other phthalate esters to nervous tissue in culture

Butylbenzyl phthalate (BBP) and n-butyl lauryl phthalate (BLP) markedly inhibited the outgrowth of nerve fibers and glial cells from cerebellar explants of newborn rat in primary culture at concentrations of 7.0 and 12.5·10^?4 M, respectively. The toxicity of butyl phthalyl butyl glycolate (BPBG) was not significant. From these results the order of toxicity of these three phthalate esters was determined as BBP > BLP > BPBG.     

Antiandrogenic activity of phthalate mixtures: validity of concentration addition

Phthalates and bisphenol A have very widespread use leading to significant exposure of humans. They are suspected to interfere with the endocrine system, including the androgen, estrogen and the thyroid hormone system. Here we analyzed the antiandrogenic activity of six binary, and one ternary mixture of phthalates exhibiting complete antiandrogenic dose-response curves, and binary mixtures of phthalates and bisphenol A at equi-effective concentrations of EC₁₀, EC₂₅ and EC₅₀ in MDA-kb2 cells. Mixture activity followed the concentration addition (CA) model with a tendency to synergism at high and antagonism at low concentrations. Isoboles and the toxic unit approach (TUA) confirmed the additive to synergistic activity of the binary mixtures BBP + DBP, DBP + DEP and DEP + BPA at high concentrations. Both methods indicate a tendency to antagonism for the EC₁₀ mixtures BBP + DBP, BBP + DEP and DBP + DEP, and the EC₂₅ mixture of DBP + BPA. A ternary mixture revealed synergism at the EC₅₀, and weak antagonistic activity at the EC₂₅ level by the TUA. A mixture of five phthalates representing a human urine composition and reflecting exposure to corresponding parent compounds showed no antiandrogenic activity. Our study demonstrates that CA is an appropriate concept to account for mixture effects of antiandrogenic phthalates and bisphenol A. The interaction indicates a departure from additivity to antagonism at low concentrations, probably due to interaction with the androgen receptor and/or cofactors. This study emphasizes that a risk assessment of phthalates should account for mixture effects by applying the CA concept.     

Estrogen agonist/antagonist properties of dibenzyl phthalate (DBzP) based on in vitro and in vivo assays

The most commonly used phthalates have been banned or restricted for use as plasticizers in toys in some countries because of their endocrine-disrupting properties. Dibenzyl phthalate (DBzP) has been proposed as a possible alternative for the banned/restricted phthalates. In this study, the estrogen agonist/antagonist properties of DBzP were predicted by molecular docking and confirmed by yeast estrogen screen (YES) and immature mouse uterotrophic assays. The YES assay results showed a dose-dependent increase in DBzP estrogen agonist activity from 10⁻⁶ to 10⁻⁴ M, and at concentrations from 1.95 × 10⁻⁶ M to higher, DBzP significantly inhibited the agonist activity of 10⁻⁹ M 17β-estradiol (E₂), inhibiting 10⁻⁹ M E₂ by 74.5% at its maximum effectiveness. The in vivo estrogen agonist/antagonist activities of DBzP were demonstrated in immature mouse uterotrophic assays. The antagonist activity of DBzP inhibited E₂-induced uterine growth promoted at 40 and 400 μg/kg bw (body weight) (P < 0.05). In addition, we also analyzed the estrogen agonist/antagonist potentials of benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP) by YES, and found both were weaker than those of DBzP, suggesting DBzP would be more toxic than BBP and should not be used as an alternative plasticizer.     

大鼠脊柱融合模型中BBP增强BMP-2的骨诱导作用

[目的]验证在大鼠脊柱融合模型中BBP对于rhBMP-2骨诱导作用的影响。[方法]采取Lewis大鼠的脊柱后外侧横突间融合模型,在胶原海绵为载体的rhBMP-2中加入BBP并减少rhBMP-2的用量,测试两种不同剂量的BBP(500 ug和1 000 ug)有或无低剂量的rhBMP2(1 ug)时的骨融合效果,并与单纯的低剂量rhBMP-2(1 ug)组相对比。融合效果采用手工评估,影像学评分,Micro-CT评估和组织学评估4种方法。[结果]BBP本身不管是低剂量还是高剂量均不能诱导骨融合。BBP复合低剂量BMP-2不能完全取得与高剂量BMP-2完全相同的效果,但可以减少BMP-2的用量。加入BBP的低剂量BMP-2组显然较低剂量BMP-2组融合率高,而且与高剂量BMP-2组的融合率相近,而且BBP的低剂量BMP-2组显然较低剂量BMP-2组融合的要早。[结论]在大鼠的脊柱融合模型中,BBP本身不管是低剂量还是高剂量均不能诱导骨融合。BBP可以增强BMP-2的骨形成作用,提高融合率,降低BMP-2的使用剂量以及减少了剂量相关性副作用的发生率,但不能取得与高剂量BMP-2完全相同的效果。BBP可以减少脊柱融合所需的时间和提高形成骨的质量。进一步的研究可以优化BBP和BMP-2的剂量,从而为以后的临床手术应用中取得更好的融合效果。