Maternal exposure to mixtures of dienestrol, linuron and flutamide. Part I: Feminization effects on male rat offspring.

Abstract

Exposure to endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) during pregnancy can result in negative health effects in later generations, including sex changes and feminization. The present study assessed the feminization effects on male offspring rats of three EDCs: Dienestrol (DIES), Linuron (LIN), and Flutamide (FLU). Sexually mature female rats were exposed from gestation day (GD) 6 until postnatal day (PND) 21 to: 0.37, 0.75, 1.5, 3.12 or 6.25 μg/kg/day of DIES, 1.5, 3, 6, 12.5, 25 or 50 mg/kg/day of LIN, 3.5, 6.7, 12.5, 25 or 50 mg/kg/day of FLU, and the following mixtures: FLU + DIES (mg/kg/day+μg/kg/day), 3.5 + 0.37, or 3.5 + 3, 25 + 0.37, or 25 + 3; FLU + LIN (mg/kg/day + mg/kg/day), 3.5 + 12.5, or 25 + 12.5; and DIES + LIN (μg/kg/day + mg/kg/day), 0.37 + 12.5, or 3 + 12.5. Anogenital distance (AGD), nipple retention (NR) and cryptorchidism were evaluated. FLU produced a decrease of AGD, an increase of NR, and an increase of cryptorchidism at the highest dose. None of these three endpoints were significantly affected by LIN or DIES treatments alone. Combinations of FLU + LIN and FLU + DIES increased NR, and decreased AGD, while DIES + LIN did not produce any effects in male pups. Results show that FLU is able to induce feminization in male pups, while binary combinations of LIN and DIES did not modify the effects produced by FLU.

• Authors: Elga Schreiber, Tània Garcia, Neus González, Roser Esplugas, Raju Prasad Sharma, Margarita Torrente, Vikas Kumar, Toine Bovee, Efrosini S Katsanou, Kyriaki Machera, José Luis Domingo, Mercedes Gómez
• Journal: Food and chemical toxicology : an international journal published for the British Industrial Biological Research Association (Food Chem Toxicol) Vol. 139 Pg. 111256 (May 2020) ISSN: 1873-6351 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 32171874 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Linuron
• Flutamide
• Dienestrol

Topics

• Animals
• Animals, Newborn
• Cryptorchidism (chemically induced, physiopathology)
• Dienestrol (toxicity)
• Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
• Endpoint Determination
• Female
• Feminization (chemically induced, physiopathology)
• Flutamide (toxicity)
• Linuron (toxicity)
• Male
• Maternal Exposure (adverse effects)
• Nipples (abnormalities, drug effects)
• Organ Size (drug effects)
• Pregnancy
• Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects (chemically induced, physiopathology)
• Rats
• Rats, Sprague-Dawley
• Testis (abnormalities, drug effects)