Decreased Sperm Number and Motile Activity on the F1 Offspring Maternally Exposed to Butyl p-Hydroxybenzoic Acid(Butyl Paraben).

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Butyl p-hydroxybenzoic acid (butyl paraben, BP) is widely used as a preservative in food and cosmetic products. Routledge et al showed that BP is weakly estrogenic in both in vitro and in vivo (rat uterotrophic) analyses. We investigated whether maternal exposures to BP during gestation and lactation periods affected the development of the reproductive organs of the F1 offspring. Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were injected subcutaneously with 100 or 200 mg/kg of BP from gestation day (GD) 6 to postnatal day (PND) 20. In the group exposed to 200 mg/kg of BP, the proportion of pups born alive and the proportion of pups surviving to weaning were decreased. The body weights of female offspring were significantly decreased at PND 49. The weights of testes, seminal vesicles and prostate glands were significantly decreased in rats exposed to 100 mg/kg of BP on PND 49. In contrast, the weights of female reproductive organs were not affected by BP. The sperm count and the sperm motile activity in the epididymis were significantly decreased at doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg of BP. In accordance with the sperm count in the epididymis, the number of round spermatids and elongated spermatids in the seminiferous tubule (stage VII) were significantly decreased by BP. Testicular expression of estrogen receptor (ER)-α and ER-β mRNA was significantly increased in 200 mg/kg of BP treated group at PND 90. Taken together, these results indicated that maternal exposure of BP might have adverse effects on the F1 male offspring.KEY WORDS: butyl p-hydroxybenzoic acid, male reproductive organ, maternal exposure, sperm.

Curcumin protects against gallic acid-induced oxidative stress, suppression of glutathione antioxidant defenses, hepatic and renal damage in rats

“…These are very interesting findings because Gal is found in a variety of plants, and the gallate moiety is a key component of many foods and drinks, for example, there are two gallate moieties in the important polyphenol, (-)-epi-gallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG); this and related polyphenols are some of the most widely consumed beverages in the world, such as green tea. 43 Furthermore, the biosafety of long-term usage of food additives have been the focus of few researchers, 7,44 apart that Gal and Cur are commonly used food spices that are consumed in large quantities in most parts of the world. Thus, combined administration of Gal and Cur can abolish Gal-induced inhibition of GSH-related antioxidant system, antioxidant enzymes, renal and hepatic damage.…”

Parabens in urine, serum and seminal plasma from healthy Danish men determined by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS)

“…However, it was a surprise that several of the parabens could be detected in seminal plasma, and for n-PrP and n-BuP the levels were even higher in seminal plasma than in serum. Adverse effects of PrP and BuP on male reproduction such as decreased serum testosterone, sperm concentration and motility of the spermatozoa have been observed in animal studies (Oishi, 2001(Oishi, , 2002(Oishi, , 2004Kang et al, 2002;CIR Expert Panel, 2009), whereas MeP and EtP do not seem to have the same effects. We cannot say whether the parabens we measured in seminal plasma derived from fluids coming from the testis together with the spermatozoa and thus reflect a direct exposure of the testis or whether they derived from seminal fluid coming from the accessory glands.…”

“…Some parabens have been shown to have weak estrogenic effects in vitro and in animal studies (Okubo et al, 2001;Byford et al, 2002;Darbre et al, 2002Darbre et al, , 2003Darbre et al, , 2004Lemini et al, 2003;Pugazhendhi et al, 2005). Furthermore, studies have shown effects on the male reproductive system, resulting in the reduction of testosterone levels and mature sperm counts, in rats and mice after in utero exposure to some parabens (Oishi, 2001(Oishi, , 2002(Oishi, , 2004Kang et al, 2002), whereas other studies could not confirm these effects (Hoberman et al, 2008;Taxvig et al, 2008). Recently it has been discussed whether parabens could have an adverse effect on the testis mitochondria function, followed by a decreased reproductive potential (Tavares et al, 2009).…”

Paraben esters: review of recent studies of endocrine toxicity, absorption, esterase and human exposure, and discussion of potential human health risks

“…Recent research has demonstrated that environmental oestrogens can act in an additive manner alone or in combination with physiological oestrogens to give responses at concentrations where each alone would have little or no effect in either in vitro (Rajapakse et al, 2002) or in vivo (Brian et al, 2005) assays. Butylparaben has been shown speci¼cally to give oestrogenic responses which are additive when combined with either the physiological oestrogen, oestradiol or the xenoestrogens, nonylphenol or Bisphenol A (Kyung-Sun- Kang et al, 2002). Research is now needed to de¼ne clearly whether there are additive or even inhibitory effects in human breast cancer cells of combinations of all the paraben esters and combinations of all the paraben esters together with other cosmetic oestrogens (see above) and also environmental oestrogens known to enter the breast through diet (Darbre, 2006a).…”