Premium
Effects on guppy brain aromatase activity following short‐term steroid and 4‐nonylphenol exposures
Author(s) -
Hallgren Stefan,
Olsén K. Håkan
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
environmental toxicology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.813
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1522-7278
pISSN - 1520-4081
DOI - 10.1002/tox.20494
Subject(s) - aromatase , guppy , poecilia , endocrine disruptor , medicine , endocrinology , nonylphenol , endocrine system , estrogen , biology , steroid , androgen , testosterone (patch) , chemistry , hormone , environmental chemistry , fish <actinopterygii> , fishery , cancer , breast cancer
Brain estrogen production, performed by the enzyme aromatase, can be disrupted/affected in teleost fish exposed to endocrine disruptors found in polluted aquatic environments. The guppy ( Poecilia reticulata ) was previously studied and confirmed to suffer negative effects on reproductive behaviors following inhibition of the brain aromatase reaction. Here adult guppies ( Poecilia reticulata ) of both genders were subjected to known endocrine disruptors: the androgen androstenedione (A), the synthetic estrogen 17α‐ethinylestradiol (EE 2 ), and the estrogenic surfactant 4‐nonylphenol (NP), at high (50 μg/L) and at environmentally relevant concentrations (10 ng/L EE 2 , 5 μg/L NP, and 0.7 μg/L A) for 2 weeks followed by measurements of brain aromatase activity (bAA). In the adult males, bAA was stimulated by A and EE 2 at 50 μg/L. Female activity was also stimulated by the higher estrogenic treatment. At environmentally relevant concentrations only the EE 2 treatment affected bAA, and only in males. The alkylphenolic substance NP produced no effect in either of the experiments, not on males nor females. The results indicate that short‐term steroid treatments have stimulatory effects on guppy brain aromatase even at concentrations that can be found in the environment. We thus suggest bAA of adult guppies to be a suitable bioindicator of endocrine disruptors. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol, 2010.