Effects of Endocrine Disrupters (Environmental Hormone) on Sex-Hormone Target Organs and Mammary Carcinogenesis

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It has been hypothesized that environmental exposure to synthetic estrogenic chemicals and related endocrine-active compounds may be responsible for a global decrease in sperm counts, decreased male reproductive capacity, and breast cancer in women. Results of our studies showed that administration of diethylstilbestrol (DES), which had high estrogenic activity, disturbed pregnancy and delivery, and induced hypoplasia of testis and absence of corpora lutena in ovaries in Sprague-Dawley rats. Neonatal administration of DES accelerated mammary carcinogenesis in female rats. Neonatal administration of 4-n-octylphenol (n-OP, 1000μg) which exist in the environment and had a very week estrogenic activity, could not induce endocrine disruption in males and females, but oral administration of high dose (1000ppm) n-OP accelerated mammary carcinogenesis in adult male rats. Therefore, further studies on endocrine disruption of fetal n-OP are necessary.