Endocrine-Disrupting Contaminants and Their Effects on Reproductive and Developmental Health - Environmental Contamination: Health Risks and Ecological Restoration - page 54

perluorooctanoic.acid).are.ubiquitous.and.possess.dioxin-like.and/or.estro-
genic. activities.. Although. a. considerable. number. of. studies. have. reported.
their. environmental. contamination. proiles. as. well. as. investigated. their.
general. toxicities,. the. information. on. the. “structure-activity”. relationship.
of. most. of. the. identiied. hazardous. chemical. pollutants. is. not. yet. known.
systematically.. One. way. to. gain. a. deeper. understanding. of. the. structural.
aspects.of.ED,.in.order.to.characterize.its.mechanisms,.is.to.use.an.approach.
commonly. known. as. quantitative. structure-activity. relationship. (QSAR)..
As.is.well-known,.QSAR. is. considerably. dependent. on. the.exact.training/
test.sets.and.the.particular.bioassay.being.monitored,.and.we.attempted.to.
build.a.2D-/3D-model.based.on.a.selected.training/test.set.of.chemicals.of.
regional.importance.and.with.particular.bioactivities.
Among. different. food. items,. it. was. found. that. it. is. ish. that. has. highest.
accumulated.levels.of.pollutants.in.the.food.chain.and.in.the.environment..
Thus,.dietary.intake.of.ish.is.the.major.source.of.endocrine-disrupting.con-
taminants.(Brustad.et.al..2008,.Dovydaitis.2008,.Genuis.2008)..It.is.anticipated.
that. the. body. burden. of. EDs. can. interfere. with. the. gonadotropin-ovary-
placenta.axis.of.female.animals,.inducing.adverse.changes.via.modulation.
of.processes.such.as.gametogenesis,.fertilization,.and.embryo.implantation.
and. development.. It. is. important. to. investigate. the. effects. of. ED. exposure.
particularly.on.animal.fertility.and.embryo.development..These.approaches.
provide.invaluable.information.to.evaluate.the.most.susceptible.stage.of.the.
embryos. at. which. normal. embryonic. development. is. signiicantly. affected.
by. EDs.. Hopefully. this. can. provide. insights. into. possible. transgeneration.
effects.of. in utero .ED.exposure.
References
Anway.MD,.Cupp.AS,.Uzumcu.M,.Skinner.MK..2005..Epigenetic.transgenerational.
actions.of.endocrine.disruptors.and.male.fertility.. Science .308:.1466-1469.
Anway. MD,. Skinner. MK.. 2008.. Epigenetic. programming. of. the. germ. line:. Effects.
of. endocrine. disruptors. on. the. development. of. transgenerational. disease..
Reproductive BioMedicine Online .16:.23-25.
Aravindakshan.J,.Paquet.V,.Gregory.M,.Dufresne.J,.Fournier.M,.Marcogliese.DJ,.Cyr.
DG..2004..Consequences.of.xenoestrogen.exposure.on.male.reproductive.func-
tion.in.spottail.shiners.( Notropis hudsonius ).. Toxicology Sciences .78:.156-165.
Baldridge. MG,. Stahl. RL,. Gerstenberger. SL,. Tripoli. V,. Hutz. RJ.. 2003.. Modulation.
of. ovarian. follicle. maturation. in. Long-Evans. rats. exposed. to. polychlorinated.
biphenyls.(PCBs).in-utero.and.lactationally.. Reproductive Toxicology .17:.567-573.
Barnhoorn.IE,.Bornman.MS,.Pieterse.GM,.van.Vuren.JH..2004..Histological.evidence.
of. intersex. in. feral. sharptooth. catish. ( Clarias gariepinus ). from. an. estrogen-
polluted. water. source. in. Gauteng,. South. Africa.. Environmental Toxicology . 19:.
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