Effect of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals Exposure on Reproduction and Endocrine Functions Using the Zebrafish Model | ||
| Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries | ||
| Article 56, Volume 25, Issue 5, September and October 2021, Pages 951-981 PDF (565.75 K) | ||
| Document Type: Review articles | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/ejabf.2021.208183 | ||
| Author | ||
| Sara F. Ghanem | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Increasing concern has been rising about the number of chemical substances associated with anthropogenic activities that affect the environment as well as the health of humans and wildlife. These chemical compounds can harm the proliferation of aquatic life causing several problems among which a reduction in population density, biodiversity of species and a variation in fish sex are considered. Due to the similarity between the function of hormone receptor systems in human beings and animals, there is a great concern about the possible human health effects. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are identified as a group of harmful natural and synthetic compounds that are able to mimic endogenous hormones altering their functions, metabolism and biosynthesis. Being lipophilic molecules, many EDCs bind to hydrophobic pouches in steroid receptors, such as the androgen and estrogen receptors, that play a crucial role in vertebrate development and reproduction. Certainly, reproductive dysfunction in fish such as deviated male to female sex ratios, reduced fertility, reproductive tract abnormalities, early puberty, obesity and numerous cancers represent some health effects related to EDCs exposure. EDCs affect a great number of genes transcription, which required the development of new tools to supervise the total EDCs effects. The appearance of immense parallel sequencing for examining gene transcription offers a delicate tool for evaluating the effects of EDCs on humans and vertebrates and elucidates EDCs mode of action. In aquatic life, fish are found to be the principal hazard organisms for EDCs exposure. Zebrafish preserve many developmental pathways similar to those found in humans. Consequently, zebrafish become an important model system to study endocrine disruptors, specifically in the early stages of organs development due to the translucence of their embryos. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Endocrine Disruptors; Danio rerio; Environmental pollutants; Fish reproduction; p450 aromatase | ||
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